Social media pages and accounts circulated a video clip that publishers claimed documented a celebration by members of the Kurdish community in Damascus's al-Hamidiyah market, marking the visit of Iraq's Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani to Syria.
Visual analysis and digital tracing through reverse image search and open-source review showed the video does not come from Damascus. The clip documents the fourth annual "Shal u Shapik – Traditional Kurdish Dress" festival in the city of Zakho in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, held on 10 June 2026. The clip had been published earlier as part of the festival's coverage before being recirculated in a misleading context.
Why is this claim misleading?
Misleading geographic context: The clip documents a festival held in Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan and was recirculated with the claim that it showed a celebration in Damascus's al-Hamidiyah market.
