Harrison Ford’s purported statement on Gaza student protests is actually from 2019 climate summit
The video has no connection to recent pro-Palestine protests
CLAIM
Clips posted on multiple platforms in April and May purported to show Harrison Ford making a public statement in support of student pro-Palestine protesters.
BACKGROUND
A clip that was posted to TikTok and later reshared on multiple platforms in recent weeks showed Harrison Ford speaking into a microphone.
The clips, which see the actor making a public statement at a podium, were posted with captions suggesting his remarks were about the pro-Palestine protests on college campuses.
In the short clip, Harrison Ford says: “The people on the front lines, the people on the ground, the people with their feet in the mud. Our efforts will have 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 organised. 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 the way.”
The version from TikTok, which we found had been reshared onto other platforms including X, was posted on April 20 and had racked up close to 2 million views on the video-sharing app, as well as more than 265,000 likes.
The video was posted with dramatic music in the background and onscreen text which read: “They are Pushing through Tik Tok Ban Today”, “Free Palestine,” and “Protect Free Speech”.
Another post including the same TikTok video on X was posted with the caption: “Harrison Ford on Pro-Palestine protesters: “Get the hell out of their way….” #IsraeliWarCrimes #StudentProtests #FreePalestine”
METHOD
Reverse searches on the image of Harrison Ford in the clip pulled up older versions showing the actor speaking in the same setting.
Among the oldest we could find was this news clip from Reuters, posted in September 2019, which shows Harrison Ford making a speech about climate change.
That clip features the same quotes as the above video, in which he refers to climate change and urges leaders to listen to young people campaigning on behalf of the climate.
Using this information, we were able to find the original source — the full speech made by Harrison Ford at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 — posted on September 23, 2019 to the United Nations YouTube channel.
With this analysis, we can conclude that the video posted to TikTok was a genuine clip of Harrison Ford but was missing context and featured misleading captioning.
RATING
The video has no connection to recent pro-Palestine protests and actually shows Harrison Ford making a speech at a UN summit in 2019.
SOURCES
Tiktok.com. (2024). Available at: starlordziggy [Accessed 7 May 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: Harrison Ford on Pro-Palestine protesters: “Get the hell out of their way….” [Accessed 7 May 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: Actor Harrison Ford demands the United Nations take immediate action on climate change, ‘Our house is on fire, and we only have one house’ [Accessed 7 May 2024].
United Nations (2019). Harrison Ford on the importance of rainforests at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019. YouTube. [Accessed 7 May 2024].