Fact Check

Toys Soldiers?

A photograph does not show Syrian orphans holding guns as they make their way to the United States.

Published Nov. 30, 2015

Claim:

[green-label]Claim:[/green-label] A photograph shows a group of "Syrian orphans" holding guns.

[dot-false]FALSE[/dot-false]

[green-label]Example:[/green-label] [green-small][Collected via Facebook, November 2015][/green-small]

orphan guns

Those Syrian Orphans Obama told ya'll about lining up to come to the USA. Aren't they Precious?

[green-label]Origins:[/green-label] On 25 November 2015, Facebook user David Ables shared a photograph which purportedly showed a group of Syrian orphans holding guns and insinuated that the pictured children were among the refugees making their way to the United States.

The above-displayed photograph, however, was not taken in Syria and does not show refugees. The claim that the children are orphans is also baseless, as well as the claim that the children are holding real guns.

The photograph was taken in July 2014 on Al-Quds (Jerusalem Day) in Pakistan. The description accompanying the photo on Alamy states that the children are "Pakistani Shiite Muslims" and are holding toy guns during a protest:

Pakistani Shiite Muslims children hold toy guns during a rally to protest against Israel and US policy in the middle east, to mark the Al-Quds (Jerusalem day), in Karachi, Pakistan, 25 July 2014. Many Muslim countries mark Al-Quds day, an annual day of protest decreed in 1979 by the late Iranian ruler Ayatollah Khomeini, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. The day is celebrated in a move to express support for the Palestinian people and their resistance against Israeli occupation.

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[green-label]Last updated:[/green-label] 30 November 2015

[green-label]Originally published:[/green-label] 30 November 2015

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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