28 | JUNE 11 • 2020
O
ver the centuries Jews
have been blamed for
plagues, economic
depressions and wars. Now the
coronavirus is being connected
to Jews by some conspiracy
theorists and white suprema-
cists on social
media, includ-
ing encrypt-
ed online
platforms as
well as in tra-
ditional media.
In fact, the
Leelenau Enterprise in Northern
Michigan ran a letter to the edi-
tor a few weeks back accusing
COVID-19 of being a Jewish
conspiracy.
The Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) reports
that extremists
are scapegoating
Asian, Jewish,
African American
and other minority
groups, as well as
immigrants, claiming they are
responsible for the virus.
According to Carolyn
Normandin, regional direc-
tor of ADL
’
s Michigan office,
extremists have accused Jews of
using the coronavirus as “a tool
to gain control
and power so
we could have
a remedy and
charge for it.
”
Normandin
points out the
use of a blue
rat with a Jewish star on some
extremist websites — an image
she says has been promulgated
digitally on mainstream plat-
forms as well.
Amy Spitalnick, executive
director of the
nonprofit Integrity
First for America,
was a presenter for
a recent National
Council of Jewish
Women (NCJW)
COVID
Conspiracy
Theorists
Blame
Jews
Extremists seize on coronavirus
for anti-Semitic attacks.
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jews in the D
webinar about white suprema-
cy and COVID-19. She views
the current extremist response
to the COVID-19 pandem-
ic as part of a larger cycle of
anti-Semitism, which includes
a significant increase in anti-Se-
mitic 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 vac-
cine?” 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
national security
initiative of the
Jewish Federations of North
America) have noted online
statements by neo-Nazis and
white supremacists urging read-
ers to infect the Jewish commu-
nity with the coronavirus.
The Anti-Defamation League
has tracked and reported
numerous anti-Semitic car-
toons, as well as other imag-
es 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 involve-
ment 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 suprem-
acist 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 encourag-
ing 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 encour-
aging 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
Carolyn
Normandin
Gary Sikorski
Amy
Spitalnick
ADL
ADL