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

