A month of fake news stories about Al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who brought down Bashar al-Assad
A variety of fake news stories have circulated online in the past month about Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the Islamist coalition that toppled the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. We take a look back at a few that the Observers team have debunked, ranging from claims that al-Jolani is actually Jewish to rumours about his pronouns.
Fake news stories about Syrian Islamist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa have been spreading online over the past month. Al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist movement that led the offensive that toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad on December 8. Both far right and pro-Iranian social media accounts have been spreading disinformation about Al-Jolani since the Assad’s fall. We decided to compile and analyse some of the most viral fake stories.
Did Al-Jolani really tell the Times of Israel that he wanted to be friends with Israel?
Stories have been circulating online that on December 7, just after HTS took control of the Syrian towns of Aleppo and Hama, al-Jolani gave an interview to Israeli media outlet The Times of Israel – or so claim a bevy of pro-Iranian accounts in posts that have garnered more than 30,000 views. The posts feature a screengrab of the supposed interview, complete with a photo of Al-Jolani.
According to one social media user who shared the article, the Islamist leader said he was “open to friendship with everyone in the region – including Israel".
Did CNN really use pronouns during an interview with Al-Jolani?
Is Al-Jolani really Jewish?
