One of the most jaw-dropping protest stunts of the Gaza war happened on Friday, November 17, 2023, when about 15 Italian students slipped past security at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and unfurled a giant Palestinian flag from the bell tower. They also lit smoke flares in red, green and black tones before heading back down, and the whole thing lasted only a few minutes. Police said the group hid behind a peaceful march of roughly 500 people that had wound through the city centre to the Piazza dei Miracoli that morning, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Italian media linked the climbers to left-wing, anticapitalist student movements, and officials confirmed the tower suffered no damage and that the action ended in an orderly way.

The images exploded online, and now the old footage keeps popping back up, often with captions that make it sound like something brand new or something far more sinister than it was. The facts on record point to a small student protest against Israelโ€™s bombardment of Gaza, not to any Islamist plot, and the flag came down without injuries or destruction. Still, the stunt left some big questions hanging, including how a group managed to get past the controls at one of the most famous landmarks on Earth. Police said they would work to identify the participants from video, and similar flag stunts on landmarks have been pulled off in other cities around the world. So before you hit share on any viral Pisa clip, check the date, because this one is from 2023.