2014 photo of pro-Palestine protests in Paris falsely linked to recent French elections

What’s the claim?

An image circulating widely on social media claims to depict riots that erupted after the first round of the 2024 French parliamentary elections, when French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's party took the lead. The photo shows protesters at Place de la République in Paris, France, holding Algerian and Palestinian flags, with a swastika symbol visible.

A Facebook user shared a screenshot of an X (formerly Twitter) post captioned, "This is a picture of the 'French' Left who is rioting against Le Pen's victory in France. What do you notice?" Archived versions of similar posts can be found here.

The image is also viral on X with similar claims. Archived versions of such posts are available here and here. 

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, an old, unrelated photo has been falsely linked to recent riots during the French elections.

What we found

A reverse image search led us to a New York Times article published on August 1, 2014, featuring the same image. The caption stated that the photo was taken at a Paris rally and showed pro-Palestinian protesters displaying a swastika in support of Gaza. The image, which drew criticism, was credited to US-based photojournalist Etienne Laurent of the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA).

Screenshot of the image in a New York Times article (Source: New York Times)

We also found the same image on EPA images, with a published date of July 26, 2014. The description read, "A swastika amid a group of protesters on the Statue de la Republique during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, at Place de la Republique in Paris, France, 26 July 2014. The rally was banned by the government and police were deployed in order to prevent any trouble.”

This evidence confirms that an image from a 2014 protest has been falsely associated with recent incidents during the 2024 French parliamentary elections.

What is happening in France?

France concluded its 2024 legislative elections with a two-round voting process on June 30 and July 7. All 577 National Assembly seats were contested, with the winning party or coalition set to appoint the next prime minister. Initial exit polls suggested Le Pen's far-right National Rally party would lead, but surprisingly, the left-wing New Popular Front alliance secured the most seats in parliament with 182 wins. However, no party achieved a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. The outcome sparked protests across France as the left-wing alliance gained victory.

The verdict

A 2014 image of a pro-Palestinian protest has been taken out of context and falsely claimed to show recent protests following the French parliamentary election results.