No, immigrants are not protesting Christmas or cancelling markets
Old and out of context images are being shared on social media falsely claiming they show Muslims opposing Christmas celebrations and forcing Christmas markets closures across Europe.
CLAIM: Various videos and images claimed immigrants across Europe were opposing Christmas celebrations and that Christmas markets were being cancelled.
BACKGROUND: Narratives critical of immigration and Muslim communities regularly claim that immigrants want to cancel Christian and European traditions by imposing their religious beliefs. This trend has become particularly popular around Christmas season.
METHOD: Through image reverse searches and footage comparisons we contextualized the videos that were used to support this narrative.
RATING: Videos claiming immigrants were opposing Christmas markets and celebrations were old and taken out of context. It was often footage shot during pro Palestine marches or other similar events. Claims surrounding Christmas markets cancellations were usually a misrepresentation of the actual facts.
As Christmas markets opened and lights switched on across Europe, social media witnessed what has now become another yearly tradition: a wave of narratives critical of immigration and Muslim communities surrounding Christmas celebrations.
Social media users critical of immigration have been sharing numerous videos and images, contributing to the narrative that “Christmas is being cancelled.” According to their claims, immigrants — and more specifically, Muslims — are opposing Christmas celebrations with protests, while European cities gave in to their demands, cancelling Christmas markets.
The videos and images used to support the claims are usually old and taken out of context, often footage shot during pro-Palestine demonstrations and other misrepresented content.
Old protests footage: Primary method for spreading the misinformation
While these claims spread across different European countries, the misinformation technique appears to remain the same. A large majority of the allegations supporting this narrative were, in fact, made from old footage of protests, taken out of context and reused misleadingly.
A video (archived here) showing a protest in Brussels Bourse square went viral on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in November 2025, as users claimed the clip featured “Islamic immigrants” protesting against Christmas.
For example, on November 30 Italian independent journalist Azzurra Barbuto shared the video (archived here) on X, with the caption, “Islamic immigrants, waving Palestinian flags, protest against Christmas, against our lights, against our nativity scenes, against our traditions.” Her post had garnered over 14,000 views as of December 4.
While it is true that on November 28, a protest took place in the Bourse square, coinciding with the Christmas markets’ opening day, it is false that it was a demonstration against Christmas.
The protest was organized by Ahrar Palestine, a local movement that has regularly occupied the Bourse square in support of Palestine over the last two years, as reported by Italian fact-checker Facta.news. The demonstration was documented on the collective’s Instagram profile.
In the video, it is possible to see numerous Palestinian flags and some typical slogans for anti-Israel protests.
Similarly, on November 28, social media users on Instagram and X (archived here and here) started sharing a video claiming it featured Muslim protesters in Milan disrupting the opening of Christmas markets in the Duomo square. In the footage, several protesters waving Palestinian, Egyptian, and Tunisian flags, among others, climbed the square monument, chanting.
However, the Christmas markets in the Duomo square were inaugurated only on December 1, predating the video. Additionally, in the clip, a lit-up Christmas tree is visible in the background, while this year the square’s tree will not be lit up until December 6.
The video appears to have been shot during the 2025 New Year’s celebrations in Milan, as indicated by a comparison with older footage and the illumination of the Christmas tree, which coincided with a group of protesters carrying flags from various Arabic countries who climbed the square monument while chanting against the Italian police.
There are no reports of demonstrations during the opening of the 2025 Christmas markets in Milan in Italian media.
Similarly, a social media account with a history of publishing misinformation, @Radiogenoa, shared a video (archived here) on X on December 1, claiming it showed immigrants surrounding Christmas markets and calling for Islamic jihad.
While the video's audio does not allow a definitive determination of the chants’ content, a police spokesperson told Österreichischer Rundfunk’s (ORF) Anita Fichtinger that there were no records of jihad-related comments.
The video appears to have been shot during a pro-Palestine protest in Vienna on November 29, which passed by the city’s Christmas markets, as local media reported.
The video appears to have been shot during a pro-Palestine protest in Vienna on November 29, which passed by the city’s Christmas markets, as local media reported.
Finally, a video (archived here) became viral on social media over the last few months, purportedly showing thousands of Muslim immigrants in Germany protesting against the Christmas festivity fair because it goes against their beliefs.
A reverse image search with Google Lens revealed that the video was initially shot in October 2024. According to media reports, the demonstration was organized by the collective Muslim Interaktiv in Hamburg in the St. Georg district, calling to “Stop the genocide against our Uyghur brothers and sisters in East Turkistan.”
A fact-check from AAP geolocated the video to the corner of Steindamm and Kruezweg in Hamburg. The Christmas fair or market located closest to the demonstration, Winter Pride, didn’t begin until November 15 in 2024.
There are several other videos currently circulating claiming they feature Muslims disrupting Christmas markets across Europe. For example, X user @DefiantLs shared a video (archived here) on November 9, claiming it showed immigrants disrupting markets in Germany.
However, an image reverse search revealed that the footage was shot in December 2024, in Essen, Germany, when thousands of Syrians marched through the city to celebrate the fall of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, as confirmed by media reports.
However, an image reverse search revealed that the footage was shot in December 2024, in Essen, Germany, when thousands of Syrians marched through the city to celebrate the fall of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, as confirmed by media reports.
Christmas markets are not getting cancelled
As Christmas market openings approached, rumours spread that they were being cancelled due to terrorism and immigration fears.
For example, a video (archived here) circulated on TikTok with the caption “Christmas is around the corner, Germany is CANCELLING their markets… and it also looks like other places in Europe are going to do the same.” The video had over 700,000 views as of December 4.
According to an extensive fact-check published by German public broadcaster DW, most markets across the country opened regularly around the end of November. Among the over 2,500 scheduled markets, only a few isolated cancellations were recorded, such as those in Hamburg’s Rahlstedt district, due to low revenue.
Similarly, a Facebook user (archived here) claimed that the Christmas markets in Magdeburg were cancelled this year due to a lack of appropriate safety measures following last year’s attack.
The claim is false; the Christmas markets in Magdeburg opened on November 20, as confirmed on the event’s official website. The markets were initially delayed because the administrative office had not yet approved the safety plan for the event, but the issue was solved a couple of days later, as reported in a statement by the city’s mayor.
Germany was not the only target of this particular narrative. Similar claims circulated across the UK.
For example, a video (archived here) was shared on TikTok with the caption “Christmas Lights CANCELLED Forever?! Shocking Reason They’ll NEVER Return.”
The video misrepresented a decision by Sheffield’s Councillor Ibby Ullah, who announced that this year's switching-on event would not take place due to other Christmas-related activities.
According to a Reuters fact-check, the lights are still on in the city and will remain so until January 5. Additionally, construction work and crowd safety concerns appear to have cancelled the switch-on event at least since 2023.
SOURCES
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