{"id":11555,"date":"2025-06-26T13:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T12:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=11555"},"modified":"2025-08-31T13:47:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T12:47:34","slug":"video-of-crow-removing-israeli-flag-was-not-filmed-in-croatia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/video-of-crow-removing-israeli-flag-was-not-filmed-in-croatia\/","title":{"rendered":"Video of Crow Removing Israeli Flag Was Not Filmed in Croatia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/faktograf.hr\/2025\/06\/23\/snimka-vrane-koja-sa-stupa-skida-izraelsku-zastavu-nije-nastala-u-hrvatskoj\/\">Original article<\/a> (in Croatian) was published on 23\/6\/2025; Author: Ivica Kristovi\u0107<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The same video \u2013 unrelated to the recent Israel-Iran conflict \u2013 first circulated on social media and in the media as early as May 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crows are well-known for their intelligence, but some social media users have recently attributed them with political motives as well. On June 22, 2025, a Croatian Facebook user posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/mvau.lt\/media\/7009fc44-f42a-4d6e-b769-1d3de8d520c4\">reel<\/a> (archived <a href=\"https:\/\/faktograf.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snapsave-app-724328257222166-hd.mp4\">here<\/a>) claiming to show a crow removing an Israeli flag in Croatia. The video caption falsely claimed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cA bird takes down a flag from a pole in Croatia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/statvrana-1200x675-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/statvrana-1200x675-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/seecheck.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/statvrana-1200x675-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/seecheck.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/statvrana-1200x675-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/seecheck.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/statvrana-1200x675-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this footage was not filmed in Croatia, and it also did not originate during the latest escalation between Israel and Iran. The clip has been circulating for over two years, and appeared in foreign media and social networks as early as April and May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\"><strong>Old Video, New Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The video\u2019s recent resurgence appears to be triggered by renewed conflict. Tensions between Israel and Iran escalated over the weekend, with the United States joining the conflict by striking targets in Iran. In that context, the crow video began to resurface, not only in Croatia but across international platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, NDTV World published an article on June 20, 2025 (archived <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/Nxlfm\">here<\/a>) featuring the same video. The article stated that the video had gone viral on social media, often accompanied by interpretations labeling it as a \u201csign from God\u201d amid the worsening conflict. Still, the outlet acknowledged that it could not verify the video&#8217;s authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, embedded within NDTV\u2019s article is a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nirhasson\/status\/1652393215893331969\">social media post<\/a> from late April 2023, proving that the footage was circulating long before the current escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\"><strong>Footage First Gained Attention in 2023<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The video initially went viral in the spring of 2023, particularly on Arabic-language<strong> <\/strong>platforms. On May 2, 2023, Middle East Eye published an article (archived <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/wip\/n7ru4\">here<\/a>) titled:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201c\u2018Anarchist\u2019 Crow That Tore Down Israeli Flag Goes Viral.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The outlet reported that the video was filmed in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. In the background, settlers can be heard yelling at the crow to leave the flag alone, even calling it an &#8220;anarchist.&#8221; One man expresses shock after the bird successfully removes the flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, viewers searched for symbolic meanings and cited biblical verses to interpret the crow\u2019s act \u2013 each offering their own perspective on the bird\u2019s surprising behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In conclusion, contrary to the Facebook user\u2019s claim, the video was not filmed in Croatia, nor is it connected to the latest Israel-Iran conflict. The footage is at least two years old, most likely recorded in the West Bank in 2023. Its recent spread is fueled by misleading context and renewed geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Original article (in Croatian) was published on 23\/6\/2025; Author: Ivica Kristovi\u0107 The same video \u2013 unrelated to the recent Israel-Iran conflict \u2013 first circulated on social media and in the media as early as May 2023. Crows are well-known for their intelligence, but some social media users have recently attributed them with political motives as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[29,624,170],"class_list":["post-11555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks","tag-croatia","tag-crows","tag-israel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11558,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11555\/revisions\/11558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}