What Do Iran, the Palestinians, the Far Left, and Alt-Right Have in Common? Anti-Semitic Corona Libels

An Israeli government report reveals that anti-Semitic corona conspiracies are the common denominator among Iran, the Palestinian Authority, the far-left and and the alt-right.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

The far-right, and the far-left, Iranian and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are all spreading similar libels, conspiracy theories and calls for violence against Jews and the Jewish State based on the lie that Israel spreads of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on purpose, a report by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs has exposed.

The ministry on Tuesday released its latest report, “The Virus of Hate,” on the explosion of classic and new forms of anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of Israel tied to the coronavirus.

The report presents exposes the similarity between the far-right, which disseminates classic anti-Semitic theories, and Iranian sources, PA officials, and far-left activists propagating new anti-Semitism in to delegitimize the State of Israel.

The report shows that the coronavirus provides a perfect “test case” to observe how a common libel is used by both classic anti-Semites on the far right, and new anti-Semites and anti-Israel activities on the far left.

The common motif of much of the anti-Semitic rhetoric from these groups is equating Jews and Israel with the coronavirus pandemic and the libel that Jews and Israel are using spread of the virus for political or economic gain.

For example, IDF soldiers are accused of deliberately infecting Arabs through coughing, similar to the classic anti-Semitic libels propagated by the alt-right that blames Jews for spreading the coronavirus, just as Jews were blamed for spreading plagues throughout history.

Similar to previous global pandemics and catastrophes, Jews have been scapegoated and blamed for spreading the virus, have been compared to the virus itself, and have been accused in various anti-Semitic conspiracies for creating the virus for economic gain. Some have even claimed the novel coronavirus is an Israeli bio-weapon.

The report illustrates that contrary to the claims by the delegitimization and anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that it does not traffic in anti-Semitism, BDS’ hateful rhetoric related to the coronavirus is demonstrably similar to the anti-Semitic rhetoric of the far right.

Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan stated, “It is disturbing to discover that, even in a global crisis, there are those who are working overtime to incite hatred against the Jewish people.”

He called on “the countries of the world” to “take a firm stance against hate speech and anti-Semitism, especially during this time. There is no room for such hatred. We will continue to fight against Israel’s detractors.”

The coronavirus has brought a sharp rise in online anti-Semitic content and Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, recently warned that the spike in anti-Semitism surrounding the coronavirus necessitates “tougher” measures to thwart the phenomenon.

An internal report by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) revealed in March that anti-Semitism is rising around the world as a direct result of the spread of the coronavirus.

A sharp rise was detected globally, with the U.S., Germany, and France seeing the largest increase.

Twitter has been a hub for Corona-based conspiracy theories, with Israel’s ongoing efforts to develop a vaccine seen in some quarters as as “proof” of a “Zionist plot.”