A protester took over the loudspeaker at Amsterdam airport during a pro-Palestinian protest.
This isn’t quite right. The video was recorded at The Hague’s central train station, not Amsterdam’s airport, and a Dutch government spokesperson confirmed the station’s public announcement system was not hijacked during the protest.
A video does not show a protester hijacking the “loudspeaker” at Amsterdam airport during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, as claimed in posts circulating online.
The claim has been shared widely on social media alongside a video clip, including 58,000 times on X (formerly Twitter) and also multiple times on Facebook.
In the footage a woman's and man’s voice can be heard speaking Dutch, which is apparently being broadcast through the main foyer of a large building, while flyers and banners are dropped from a suspended platform.
A caption included with many of the posts says: “What a LEGEND! She took over the loudspeaker at Amsterdam airport and said: ‘Dear passengers; We are sorry to tell you that the Netherlands is on the wrong side of history and its taxes are contributing to a genocide. “It is time to act and not leave Gaza alone’ [sic]”.
Contrary to the caption shared with many of the posts, the beginning of the clip identifies the location as The Hague Central Station (Den Haag Centraal) in the Netherlands, not Amsterdam airport. The spokesperson also confirmed this to Full Fact. Other posts correctly identify it as the train station.
The Dutch government ministry responsible for transport, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, told Full Fact that the public announcement system had not been hijacked as part of the protest, one of a number of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place in train stations in the Netherlands.
They told us: “The public announcement system wasn’t taken over by the protesters. The voice in the video is an imitation of a public announcement by the Dutch Railways.”
Full Fact has seen many examples of misleading images and footage relating to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, including fake subtitles and miscaptioned videos.
You can read more of our work countering this type of misinformation here, as well as our guide on fact checking misleading videos relating to the conflict.
Image courtesy of Fred Romero
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because the video shows a demonstration that took place at a train station in The Hague in the Netherlands, not Amsterdam airport, and the Dutch government has confirmed the public announcement system was not hijacked.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.
