Classic antisemitic allegations arise over pandemic, report says
A report by the Strategic Affairs Ministry has highlighted the outbreak of antisemitism that has arisen alongside the coronavirus pandemic, in which classical antisemitic allegations have been made by anti-Israel organizations and individuals.
The report cited several examples of antisemitic allegations on social and news media based around the coronavirus pandemic and said that the global crisis was providing “fertile ground” for antisemitism.
Reports by the Anti-Defamation League and other organizations have demonstrated that far-right and white-supremacist elements are also using the pandemic to incite antisemitism
Among the examples cited in the Strategic Affairs Ministry report was an opinion article by Kevin Barrett on Press TV, an Iranian-funded international propaganda outlet, in which he accuses Israel of having “engineered” the deadly virus and of trying to “amplify” the severe outbreak of the disease in Iran.
The report also noted a statement by the head of the Refah Party in Turkey, Fatih Erbakan, who said on March 6 the pandemic “serves Zionism’s goals of decreasing the number of people and preventing it from increasing.”
The ministry also pointed to a report by the CRIF – the umbrella Jewish organization of the French Jewish community, which found numerous examples of antisemitism against the background of the outbreak.
The CRIF report cited National Rally politician Alain Mondino, who shared a video titled “Coronavirus for Goy” on a Russian social network accusing Jews of developing the coronavirus with the aim of “establishing their supremacy”.
The ADL has also conducted research highlighting antisemitic themes surrounding the crisis, saying there has been “a surge in messaging that Jews and/or Israel manufactured or spread the coronavirus to advance their global control.”
The ADL pointed to an image shared on the Telegram social network earlier this month showing a Trojan horse whose head was a coronavirus cell and was carrying inside an antisemitic caricature of a Jew alongside an image of a globe.
In January, white supremacist and former congressional candidate Paul Nehlen said Israel had “unleashed a bio weapon,” against China “meant to teach you that they control your destiny as well,” and asking “You gonna let those jealous, vindictive Jews get away with it?”
Former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke, Jr. accused Jewish investor and billionaire George Soros of being behind the outbreak, while far-right and white supremacist groups and individuals have shared messages and images accusing Jews of responsibility for the pandemic.
In the same vein, such elements have accused Jews of seeking to profit from the coronavirus by selling vaccines for the disease, overcharging for it and limiting its availability.