No, video doesn’t show a protest in France against McDonald's for supporting Israel

Amid the conflict with Hamas, in October 2023, McDonald's found itself at the centre of controversy after its Israeli franchise announced plans on its Instagram to provide free meals to hospitals and soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces. Meanwhile, McDonald's franchises in Kuwait, Oman, UAE, and Turkey have announced donations and humanitarian aid supporting Gaza and war-affected populations. 

What is the claim?
Against this backdrop, a viral clip showing a truck pouring waste in front of a McDonald's outlet is being shared with the allegation that protestors in France poured animal dung in front of McDonald's over its 'support for Israel.' Sharing the clip on X and Facebook, users wrote, "This video shows that Protest was held by pouring animal manure in front of the McDonald's branch that supports the occupying Israel...." Another Facebook user added, "This should be the treatment everyone who supports Israel deserves." Few even called McDonald's an ‘Israel terrorist supporter.’ The archives of the posts can be seen here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts on X. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What are the facts?
L'Est Républicain, a regional French newspaper, shared a part of the viral clip on November 24, 2023, and wrote in French, "Haute-Saône: angry, farmers dump tons of manure in front of two fast-food restaurants in Vesoul." Reporting on the incident, they said that around 30 trucks arrived on November 24 mid-morning and dumped tons of manure on the driveway of McDonald’s in Vesoul, a commune in France’s Haute-Saône department.

 Video reported by L'Est Républicain. (Source: Website/ScreenshotsModified by Logically Facts)

We could compare the visuals between 0:00 to 0:06 of the Républicain video to those seen in the timestamp 0:14 to 0:20 in the viral clip, where the truck empties out the manure. 

On November 24, 2023, French media outlet Ouest France reported, "150 farmers from Haute-Saône dumped manure in front of the McDonald's and Burger King in Vesoul." In the article, they wrote it was a “striking action” in response to fast food outlets not sourcing their meat locally.

The president of the Departmental Federation of Farmers' Unions (FDSEA) of Haute-Saône told AFP, "This action, aimed at denouncing the fact that according to the union, these fast food giants do not source enough French meat, brought together some 150 farmers." 

Local French news website RTL Info published a report with X posts sharing the clip and published a report on it as well, noting that the videos are from the protest by French farmers. 

What did FDSEA say?
The FDSEA of Haute-Saône on Facebook also shared a few images from the protest held on November 24 along with a press release in French, headlined "Union action of the farmers of Haute-Saône against Mac Donald's and Burger King in Vesoul." The post talked about the issue of farms decreasing in France and alleged that chains like Burger King and McDonald's “massively import foreign meat (of the order 50 percent) for the production of burgers.” 

We were able to compare one of the images in the post by FDSEA to the viral clip. We can match the architecture of the McDonald's outlet, the positioning of a green flag, and the tower some distance from the building seen in the background. 

Comparison of an image from FDSEA  to the viral clip (Source: X/Facebook/ScreenshotsModified by Logically Facts)

Reacting to the protest, the local paper News in France reported that McDonald’s said, "McDonald’s France is a privileged and historic partner of French agriculture both in terms of its supplies and contractualization, initiated more than 30 years ago."

The verdict
A video of a truck in France pouring out animal dung in front of McDonald's is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The protest was by the farmers against fast food chains for not sourcing meat locally.