Pro-Palestine demonstrators at UCLA did not chant, “We want Jewish Genocide”

Claim: A video posted on social media in October 2023 shows a pro-Palestinian demonstration on UCLA’s campus with people chanting, “We want Jewish genocide.”

Fact: The claim is false. The video does not show the demonstrators chanting, “We want Jewish genocide.” Instead, they are saying, “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”

On 26 October 2023, a video showing a pro-Palestinian demonstration on UCLA’s campus was posted on X (archive), with a caption that falsely claimed that the protesters were calling for a “Jewish genocide.” 

The video was later shared by other users on various social media platforms such as YouTube (archive), Instagram and Facebook with similar captions that accused the pro-Palestinian protesters of advocating  a “Jewish genocide.” 

Fact or Fiction?

The claim misrepresents the actual words chanted by the demonstrators. A closer listening of the video, which was filmed during the protest on campus on 25 October, reveals the protesters are actually saying, “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.” 

The phrase has been used in previous demonstrations against Israel’s alleged human rights violations in the recent Israel-Gaza war. For example, a similar chant was heard at a pro-Palestine rally at the University of Pennsylvania on 15 October 2023.

When Soch Fact Check googled the phrases “UCLA” and “we charge you with genocide”,,  we found a press release from the University’s Newsroom.  The statement says, “our staff who were present at the event confirmed that what was chanted by the group was the phrase that the ADL and USA Today reported on.”  The phrase that was actually said at the 25 October 2023 rally was, “we charge you with genocide,” and not “we want Jewish genocide”. The ADL and USA Today had also misreported the chant and both publications have now issued corrections. 

The demonstration was also covered by UCLA’s campus newspaper, the Daily Bruin, which published a photo of the event that matched the video. Two journalists from the Daily Bruin who were at the event confirmed to Snopes that the caption was inaccurate, and that the actual chant was “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”

Virality

The video was widely circulated on social media platforms such as X, YouTube (archive), Instagram and Facebook by different users, which received a total of more than 160,000 views and 2,000 interactions such as likes, comments, and shares.

The claim was also posted on Instagram here, and Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Conclusion: The claim is false. The video does not show the demonstrators chanting the phrase “we want genocide”. Instead, a close listening of the video, as well as a confirmation from the UCLA reveals that the demonstrators were saying, “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”

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