Extremists seize on coronavirus

Jews in the D

COVID Conspiracy Theorists Blame Jews

Extremists seize on coronavirus for anti-Semitic attacks.

ADL

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER O ver the centuries Jews immigrants, claiming they are have been blamed for responsible for the virus. plagues, economic According to Carolyn depressions and wars. Now the Normandin, regional direccoronavirus is being connected tor of ADL’s Michigan office, to Jews by some conspiracy extremists have accused Jews of theorists and white supremausing the coronavirus as “a tool cists on social to gain control media, includand power so ing encryptwe could have ed online a remedy and platforms as charge for it.” well as in tra Normandin ditional media. points out the In fact, the use of a blue Leelenau Enterprise in Northern rat with a Jewish star on some Michigan ran a letter to the ediextremist websites — an image tor a few weeks back accusing she says has been promulgated COVID-19 of being a Jewish digitally on mainstream platconspiracy. forms as well.

The Anti-Defamation League Amy Spitalnick, executive (ADL) reports director of the that extremists nonprofit Integrity are scapegoating First for America, Asian, Jewish, was a presenter for African American a recent National Carolyn Normandin and other minority groups, as well as Amy Spitalnick Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) webinar about white supremacy and COVID-19. She views the current extremist response to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a larger cycle of anti-Semitism, which includes a significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents.

“During crises, people look for someone to blame,” she says, adding that in January, people were asking on social media, “Was this a Jewish conspiracy? Was Israel withholding a vaccine?” Spitalnick says that such questions and online anti-Asian attacks alike can be traced back to white supremacist websites.

According to Gary Sikorski, director of community-wide security for Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, the FBI as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the Secure Community Network (the Gary Sikorski national security initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America) have noted online statements by neo-Nazis and white supremacists urging readers to infect the Jewish community with the coronavirus.

The Anti-Defamation League has tracked and reported numerous anti-Semitic cartoons, as well as other images and posts, all relating to COVID-19. While many are posted on 4Chan (which posts images anonymously), Gab or Telegram (which is encrypted), some have been disseminated on Facebook or Twitter.

ADL cites this Twitter post by David A. Clarke, former Milwaukee County sheriff and right-wing media favorite, as typical of messages tying the virus to Jews, including Soros and the Rothschilds. Clarke wrote March 15: “Not ONE media outlet has asked about George Soros’s involvement in this FLU panic. He is SOMEWHERE involved in this.” This message received 739 likes and was retweeted 227 times, according to ADL.

David Duke, a white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader, asked on Twitter on March 12 whether President Trump had the virus and whether “Israel and the global Zionist elite” were responsible.

ADL also noted a meme on Telegram and 4Chan in January showing a “happy merchant,” suggesting the coronavirus is a manufactured hoax encouraging people to get vaccinated so Jews can profit.

ADL’s monitoring indicates that “Many anti-Semites on 4chan and Telegram are sharing the news of coronavirus cases in Israel, while others are encouraging people to spread the virus among Jewish communities.” A similar sentiment was reached in an April report from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights group tracking hate group activity, which found

ADL