The global corona plague continues to spread and affects a very wide range of issues on a daily basis. Along with the severe damage to the world economies, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism in the world is also expanding, and this year a sharp increase in the number of antisemitic incidents and violence against Jews is also expected. This emerges from a special report published today (Sunday) by the Ministry of Diaspora ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
According to the Diaspora Ministry’s Anti-Semitism Report for 2020, the Corona plague has been used to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories against Jews around the world and against the State of Israel. The Diaspora Ministry notes that those behind these conspiracies claim that the Jews spread the virus to profit. new world order.
The report revealed several significant points, including the fact that in 2020 there was a tens of percent increase in the spread of anti-Semitism on the Internet. In addition, attempts were made to link Jews to the corona plague under the hashtag # COVID48. According to the Ministry of Diaspora, this was an Iranian campaign. Distributed 250,000 times (including by Supreme Leader Khamenei) and viewed by hundreds of millions of Twitter users, the hashtag compared the State of Israel to the corona virus.
Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei helps spread anti-Semitism (Photo: Social Networks)
An antisemitic cartoon accusing Israel of spreading the corona (Photo: social networks)Other key points that emerge from the report: Nine out of ten Jews in the United States believe that “anti-Semitism is a problem”; eight out of ten believe that it has increased in recent years; there is extremism in Germany: anti-Semitism among police and security forces as well.
As mentioned, the Ministry of Diaspora predicts an increase in anti-Semitism and a decrease in personal security. According to the report, “Continuing existing trends is expected to lead to a sharp rise in cases of anti-Semitism and violence against Jews and Jewish targets around the world, which will pose a significant challenge to Jewish communities in the U.S. Jewish community in the wake of the Corona crisis and social polarization.”
A caricature comparing the “Israeli occupation” to Corona (Photo: The Ministry of Diaspora’s monitoring system)The Ministry of Diaspora also claims that the corona epidemic is directly affecting antisemitic trends this year. “While the closures have lowered the potential for friction between the populations, leading for the first time in years to 0 murders in antisemitic incidents, the outbreak of the virus has ignited a wave of accusations and antisemitic conspiracy theories against Jews.” The Ministry of Diaspora explains that the main arena for expressing anti-Semitism has moved from the physical space to the virtual space.
Rising anti-Semitism in the US, alarming phenomena in Germany
The Diaspora Ministry’s report revealed an increase in anti-Semitism in the United States. “The causes of the increase,” the report explains, “are the severe corona crisis in the country, the political polarization in the presidential election campaigns, the dissemination of conspiracy theories and protests following the death of George Floyd.” A survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) shows that nine Out of ten respondents answered that they are bothered by anti-Semitism and eight out of ten (82%) believe it has increased in the last five years.
“In Germany,” the report points out, “there has been a further rise in anti-Semitism. Between 2017-2020, 380 proceedings were opened against far-right activists working for the German police. Investigators inside the police found evidence of police officers wearing uniforms and Nazi insignia and revealed many scandals related to anti-Semitism and racism in the ranks of the German police. “
“The vaccine releases”. Anti-Semitism in the world is growing in the shadow of the corona (Photo: social networks)And in Europe in general, the Ministry of Diaspora points to a problematic anti-Jewish phenomenon. “For the first time since the Holocaust,” the Diaspora Ministry explains, “there is an institutional threat to Jewish religious freedom in Europe by banning customs and labeling Jews in public by the establishment. The European Court of Justice has ruled that each country can independently disqualify kosher slaughter within its borders. “The overall European law, while continuing to allow hunting. The ruling sets a dangerous precedent and raises concerns about additional restrictions such as the ban on circumcision of boys.”
The networks are fighting, the extremists are finding ways
Although the Ministry of Diaspora notes that there is a decrease in the number of antisemitic posts on social networks, it warns that the extremist statements are being transferred to other unsupervised platforms. “Although social networks have the power to do much more to prevent the spread of hate speech, it seems that the steps taken by major networks against hate speech have led their most extreme users to migrate to less supervised networks,” the Diaspora Ministry claims.
Data from the ministry’s monitoring system indicate a 50% drop in the number of antisemitic messages posted on Twitter between 2018 and 2020. However, as mentioned, “the growing regulation on social networks has pushed extremist activists to ‘alternative’ online platforms, which have become a haven for white and neo-Nazi nationalists. The unique information gathered from the ministry’s monitoring system shows users excluded from these sites Can express themselves freely. “
Diaspora Minister Omar Yankelevich referred to the alarming findings of the report: “For thousands of years, the Jewish people have been a scapegoat for all the ills of the world. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism has not missed the current epidemic. In the past this phenomenon killed entire Jewish communities Recycled and even gaining momentum on social media, this is just one of many examples of the new face of anti-Semitism today, which will be detailed in the Diaspora Ministry’s anti-Semitism report for 2020. If anti-Semitism is a global phenomenon, so should the war. I sincerely hope that in the coming year we will be able to join hands on the way to eradicate the virus of anti-Semitism from the world. Only a stubborn and uncompromising struggle will be able to repel this plague. “