Flag Burning and ‘Mass Exodus’: Two Viral Videos Add to Iran–Israel War Frenzy

As tensions escalate in West Asia, misleading posts online claim Israelis burned their own flag and are fleeing the country. Our investigation finds the videos are old and unrelated—one from a Brooklyn protest and another from a French music festival campsite.

The joint airstrike by the United States and Israel on Iran, and the subsequent killing of its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei on February 28, have sent the world, particularly the West Asian region into a frenzy. This frenzy has spilled over onto social media as well. But here, it is being propagated through fake news, misleading claims, out-of-context visuals, and panic-generating announcements.

Amid the ongoing tensions, visuals from old and unrelated scenarios are also making the rounds on social media. Here, OBC tracks the truth behind two such videos: one that claims Israeli citizens have taken to the streets to burn their own flags, and another that says a large number of Israelis are fleeing the country due to Iranian strikes.

Did Israeli citizens take to the streets to burn their own flags?

On March 4, a verified X (formerly Twitter) account, Iran News, shared a video showing a group of people publicly burning the Israeli flag. People can also be seen rejoicing during the act. The caption reads: “Israeli citizens take to the streets, burning their own country’s flag in protest and chanting against Netanyahu.”

As of March 5, the post has garnered 1.2 million views and 36,000 likes, along with around 8,000 reposts. The comments section features several users calling for an end to Israel and labelling Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu as war criminals. One comment reads, “They should have done this three years ago—they’re a little too late for this,” referring to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent genocide Israel has been committing in Gaza.

Indian accounts, including actor Kamaal R. Khan, who has around 5 million followers, have also shared the video with the same caption. The post has drawn a range of reactions in the comments. One user wrote, “Just like some pigs in India doing the same—burning their own country’s flag.” Another user shared a photo in the comments expressing support for Benjamin Netanyahu, linking it to celebrations of Holi in India.

What’s the Real Story?

Some users commented under the video that the visuals are not from Israel but from New York. They also claimed that the people seen burning the flag are not ordinary Israeli citizens.

We examined the viral video closely and geolocated it to Brooklyn in New York City, United States.

To gather further context, we conducted a reverse image search using key frames from the video. This led us to an Instagram post shared by the account Europe Palestine Network. The page has close to a million followers and describes itself as “a page made to list and gather all the pro-Palestinian collectives for global actions in Europe.” The account is also followed by several acclaimed journalists from around the world.

The caption of the video reads: “Anti-Zionist Jews burned the Israeli flag on the holy Jewish holiday of Purim in the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, on Friday, March 7, 2025, accompanied by prayers calling for an end to Zionism and its associated actions.”

To verify this, we conducted a keyword search using the phrases “holy Jewish holiday of Purim” and “Anti-Zionist Jews burn Israeli flag.” This led us to news reports about an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group, Neturei Karta. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Neturei Karta is an ultra-Orthodox Jewish fringe movement that opposes Zionism and the existence of the State of Israel. While it is not a mainstream group within Judaism, it remains visible and vocal in protests against the Israeli state. Encyclopaedia Britannica also notes that members of Neturei Karta “stand out at such rallies with their full beards, sidelocks, prayer shawls, head coverings, and black vestments.” These distinctive features can also be seen in the viral video, further supporting the finding that the individuals belong to this fringe group.

Further reading suggests that the burning of the Israeli flag during Purim is an annual ritual carried out by members of this group in Brooklyn. Videos and reports from previous years documenting similar incidents were also found.

In summary, the particular viral video is about a year old. Additionally, it does not show ordinary Israeli citizens taking to the streets to burn their own national flag, as the viral claim suggests. Instead, it features members of an Orthodox fringe group, and the incident took place in Brooklyn, New York City—not in Israel.

The incident is also unrelated to the current Iran–Israel tensions. Rather, such flag-burning demonstrations are tied to the group’s anti-Zionist stance and are often carried out in places like Brooklyn and London.

Did Iranian strikes trigger a mass exodus from Israel?

Another verified X (formerly Twitter) account, Jvinor, shared a video on March 3. The video shows a large number of people carrying bags and luggage while walking across a large open ground. The caption reads, “BREAKING. Thousands of Israelis leaving Israel now. They are leaving their promised land ��.”

As of March 5, the post has garnered more than 1,27,000 views, around 6,000 likes, and about 1,600 reposts. Several comments claim that Israeli settlers are finally returning to their own countries, while many other users ask where the people in the video are heading.

The same video has also been shared on Facebook, Threads and Instagram with similar claims.

A reverse image search led us to a TikTok video dated June 19, 2025, with overlaid text that reads “ouverture hier du camping Hellfest.” The French text translates to “Hellfest campsite opened yesterday.”

A keyword search using the term “Hellfest campsite,” we found that Hellfest is one of the world’s largest and most well-known heavy metal music festivals, held annually in western French town of Clisson, France. Ticket holders for the annual heavy metal festival can stay at its official campsite for free. The festival usually takes place in June each year, which corresponds with the date of the TikTok video.

Therefore, the video is from France and is not related to the ongoing conflict. It shows campers arriving at the campsite of Hellfest. The video is also about nine months old.

In both cases, old and unrelated visuals have been widely reshared on social media and falsely linked to the ongoing crisis. Such posts contribute to the spread of misinformation and help fuel panic and confusion during an already volatile situation.