No, viral video doesn’t show Harrison Ford supporting pro-Palestine protesters

A video shared multiple times with millions of views across social media claims to show actor Harrison Ford making comments in support of pro-Palestine protesters that have disrupted regular operations at college campuses and in cities across the country. 

The protesters have demanded action from universities and the Biden administration, calling for ties to Israel be severed because of the mounting death toll in Gaza. 

The video, which is captioned with a text overlay that says “They are Pushing through Tik Tok Ban Today Free Palestine Protect Free Speech,” implies Ford is speaking in support of pro-Palestine protesters. It was shared on TikTok, X and Instagram.

One X post says: “Harrison Ford on pro-Palestine protesters: ‘Get the hell out of their way.’”

THE QUESTION

Does this video show Harrison Ford supporting pro-Palestine protesters?

THE SOURCES

• Original video posted by the United Nations in September 2019
• United Nations press release from September 2019
• InVid and RevEye, video and photo forensics tools

THE ANSWER

No, this video doesn’t show Harrison Ford supporting pro-Palestine protesters.

WHAT WE FOUND

Harrison Ford wasn’t showing support for pro-Palestine protesters in the viral video. It shows Ford at a United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019. He was talking about the importance of protecting the Amazon rainforest at the summit. 

Using InVid, a video forensics tool, VERIFY analyzed the keyframes of the viral video and conducted a reverse image search of the frames. VERIFY was able to trace the video to one from the United Nations, posted to YouTube on Sept. 23, 2019.

Ford, who sits on the board of Conservation International's Global Conservation Fund, begins the video by talking about the devastating effects of the 2019 wildfires in the Amazon rainforest. In August 2019, wildfires destroyed thousands of square miles of the Amazon rainforest.

“The world's largest rainforest, the Amazon, is crucial to any climate change solution for its capacity to sequester carbon, for its biodiversity, for its freshwater, for the air we breathe, for our morality, and it is on fire. When a room in your house is on fire, you don't say there's a fire in a room in my house, you say my house is on fire. And we only have one house,” Ford says. 

A few minutes later, he thanks several global leaders who were at the same summit, and then he talks about Conservation International’s commitment to help. This is the part of the speech that’s being shared out of context. 

Here is the transcript of the original video. The section in bold is the portion of the video being misrepresented:

“On behalf of Conservation International I'm honored to announce that we are committing an additional 20 million dollars in funding, but we can't do it alone. We need all the help that we can get. This money must go directly to indigenous people and civil society, the people on the front lines, the people on the ground, the people with their feet in the mud. Our efforts will have an effect. We will make great progress, and we are not alone. There's a new force of nature at hand stirring all over the world. They are the young people whom frankly we have failed, who are angry, who are organized, who are capable of making a difference. They are a moral army and the most important thing that we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way.”

Further, VERIFY has found no reputable news outlets that back up claims Ford has made any comments about pro-Palestine protesters. Ford is not on social media. 

VERIFY reached out to United Talent Agency, which represents Ford, and did not hear back by the time of publication.