Coronavirus and the Jewish People (by Sagiv Fadida, High School Intern)
People across the world are struggling to deal with the effects of Coronavirus on their health and livelihoods. Unfortunately, the crisis has also led to a spike in hate, as Jews are being falsely blamed for the spread of the disease. Now more than ever, we [Jewish people] must fight back against antisemitism and racism.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in antisemitic activity around the world, and the global crisis due to the spread of Coronavirus has provided fertile ground for new baseless conspiracy theories to emerge. People are using this disease to demonize Israel and exploit the Jews. This is evident with a simple Twitter search. Not only has misinformation been attacking Jews online, but Jewish students have also been harassed on campuses as well.
The conspiracy theories have also made their way on to television, with one person, Abdullah Bozhurt (for the post click here), on Turkish-state television claiming “Jews, Zionists have organized and engineered the novel coronavirus as a biological weapon just like bird flu” to “design the world, seize countries and neuter the world’s population.”
This post is attacking the Jews and spreading antisemitic ideals, especially when Bozkurt says that Jews want to “design the world, seize countries and neuter the world’s population.” This comment is a perfect example of demonizing the Jewish people, one of the Three Ds of antisemitism by Natan Sharansky (for more information about Sharansky’s Three Ds of antisemitism click here).
We have seen this kind of hate before in our history. Jews and other minority communities are being demonized and scapegoated for the spread of other diseases. For example, in 1347, a disease known as the Black Death appeared in Europe, killing an estimated 25 million people. Rumours immediately spread that Jews were responsible and, by late 1348, Jews were “slaughtered wholesale” for punishment. Jews are not the only minority group receiving hate, as other outbreaks have historically led to xenophobia directed against immigrants and foreigners, anti-black racism, and homophobia.
We must come together as a community and fight those using this crisis to exploit this moment for the spread of Antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
What can you do to help?
- Educate yourself, your family, and friends (additional resources here, here, and here)
- Reach out to Hasbara Fellowships if you have questions or concerns or opinions about this issue, or want to get involved in Israel Advocacy at your high school or university campus
- Report hateful content on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms
