Does a video circulating on social media show Texas secessionists demonstrating for Palestine in their trucks? No, that's not true. There are no Texas secessionists in the video. Instead, it shows Palestinian American truckers in the southwest suburbs of Chicago forming a Christmas caravan with Palestinian flags, in December 2023, aiming to draw attention to those who have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip due to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, which began on October 7, 2023.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted on TikTok by @dye6ujw6zldp (archived here) on January 30, 2024. The video features three overlay texts in Arabic, translated into English by Lead Stories staff, which read:
The Texans gave Biden and Netanyahu a stroke.
The Americans understood.
Raising the Palestinian flag over Texan trucks.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Feb 5 09:35:15 2024 UTC)
The claim on TikTok was widely shared following the Hamas attack (archived here) on Israel on October 7, 2023, such as archived here, here, and here.
On February 5, 2024, Lead Stories conducted a reverse Google image search (archived here) with excerpts of the TikTok video. The findings unveiled a video (archived here) featuring trucks adorned with Palestine flags, shared on TikTok by @khetamahomisk (archived here) on January 1, 2024, under the title "Truckers for Palestine | Chicago, 01/01/2024."
Thereupon, Lead Stories performed a Google search (archived here) on February 5, 2024, using the keywords "Chicago truck drivers Palestine." The search led to a report (archived here) by the Chicago Sun-Times from December 26, 2023, titled "Palestinian truckers gather in Southwest suburbs for 4-hour Christmas caravan."
This is what the report looked like on the Chicago Sun-Times website at the time of writing:
(Source: Chicago Sun-Times screenshot taken on Tue Feb 6 15:33:16 2024 UTC)
The photo published by the Chicago Sun-Times shows the same truck that can be seen in the TikTok video. Regarding the Christmas Day parade, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote:
The rally began about 1 p.m. at the Chicago Ridge Mall, where Odeh [the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and a longtime immigration attorney who talked to the Chicago newspaper] said about 150 semi-trucks, tow trucks, cars and other vehicles gathered before embarking on a four-hour crawl through the southwest suburbs.
Furthermore, a search on Google News' index of thousands of credible news sites (archived here) on February 6, 2024, for the past 12 months, using the terms "Texas Truck Drivers Palestine when:1y," did not yield any results indicating Texas secessionists demonstrating for Palestine.
