Accounts on X published a photo of a woman wearing the Syrian flag and holding a sign that reads “The people want Jihad al-Nikah,” claiming that it is real and from a demonstration in Syria. The photo was accompanied by the following text: “Honesty is required even if it is rude, and this is their demand and their goal, even if they hide their true nature in Jihad al-Nikah.”
Kashif verified the image via “Google Images” tool and found that it was manipulated. The original image had the phrase “We trust those who liberated us. He who liberates is the one who decides,” not “The people want Jihad al-Nikah,” as claimed.
An account named omar_nezhat1 posted the photo on Instagram on 20/12/2024, with the following text: “From Umayyad Square.” Upon closer inspection, Kashif’s team found that the sign read: “We trust those who liberated us. Whoever liberates is the one who decides.”
On 20/12/2024, Umayyad Square in the capital Damascus witnessed a demonstration in which hundreds of men and women participated in response to a call launched by the Civil Youth Gathering to demand a civil state and the participation of women in public life and political work in the new Syrian administration. The demonstrators raised many slogans, including: “A free civil Syria,” “We want democracy, not a dictatorship,” and “No free homeland without free women.”
| Sources of Claim | Sources of Verification |
| Zuhair Qasim Nasser Al-Dosari Iraq | omar_nezhat1 CCN Arabic Syria Press |