Fact Check: Viral image of anti-Islam banner in rally is old, organised by ‘neo-Nazi’ party in Athens

Hyderabad: A banner reading ‘Stop Islam’ is going viral on social media. The banner comes in the backdrop of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s 2018 comment that Islam is incompatible with European culture. Several media outlets reported her comment on December 18, 2023, without mentioning that the comment was made in 2018. NewsMeter clarified the facts on this.

However, adding to the trend of anti-Muslim rhetoric that stemmed from her comments, an X user shared the image on December 20, with the caption, “Greece had enough! Europa can’t be turned to another ME! (sic)”

“Greece, Athens,” wrote another X user who shared the image. Both accounts hint that the public rally in Athens in the image is recent and is a reaction to Giorgia Meloni’s comments.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the image is indeed from Greece but from 2017.

Upon a reverse image search, we found it published on the stock image website Alamy on May 29, 2017.

“Golden Dawn supporters march in central Athens holding a banner that reads ‘Stop Islam’ during a massive rally to commemorate the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453,” reads the caption.

We also found a similar banner published by another stock website, Getty Images, in May 2017. This website also stated that the image shows Golden Dawn members and their supporters commemorating the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottoman Turks.

According to The Guardian, Golden Dawn was a neo-Nazi party that came into prominence during Greece’s economic crisis. The newspaper also said the organisation is kind of Nazis driven by profound racism and antisemitic conspiracy theory, with a fervent devotion to Hitler.