Conspiracy Myths

As
the coronavirus surged globally, virus-related conspiracy myths
proliferated online, and demonstrations were used to spread antisemitic,
xenophobic, and other hateful messages. While some of these bigoted
messages appeared new, they were repackaged antisemitic tropes.

The
antisemitic conspiracies related to coronavirus can be classified into
two broad categories. The first blames Jews or Israel for the spread or
creation of the coronavirus to achieve financial or political gain. The
claim that Israel invented a coronavirus vaccine is often cited as
proof, and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is mentioned as proof of
the plans of the Jews to control the world. Another example used to back
this claim is that the conspiracy to spread the coronavirus pandemic
was taken at the Davos forum by members of the Rothschild and Gates
families to increase acceptance of vaccinations among the world’s
population.

The second conspiracy category assumes that the
disease is either fake or not as dangerous as reported, and that it is
instead being used as an excuse to control the population and restrict
civil rights. While these myths do not all necessarily directly blame
Jews, they include antisemitic dog whistles, such as, ”secret Cabals,”
 the “NWO (New World Order),” or ”financial and/or Hollywood elites,“
referring to Jewish people.

Others have maintained that in
addition to Jews being responsible for the creation and engineering of
the coronavirus, they are also “dirty,” “subhuman,” and infecting
others. This had led to calls by white nationalist groups to
deliberately infect Jews and other minority populations.

Some
conspiracists maintain that the current situation is the final stage in
the implementation of the NWO aiming to enslave humanity by way of mass
vaccination, removal of paper money, and the violation of personal
liberties. While this myth is not always antisemitic, in many cases the
claim is that either Jews or Israel (or both) are secretly to blame for
the loss of personal liberties.

For instance, demonstrations in
Europe promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and imagery espoused by
right-wing populists, often citing specific actors such as George Soros
or the Rothschild family and blaming Jews (or “Zionists”) and Israel for
manufacturing or spreading the coronavirus to advance their global
agenda.

According to a March 2020 report by Israel’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Germany is third on the list of countries with the most
online content on antisemitic conspiracy myths in relation to the
coronavirus crisis. A May 2020 survey by Oxford University found that
one in five Britons believe that Jews created the virus to ruin the
economy for their own financial gain.

Others used the coronavirus
as an excuse to distort or trivialize the Holocaust by claiming that
their rights were being curtailed and that they were being treated in
much the same way as Jews were during the Nazi regime. They made
comparisons between Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Josef Mengele. The terms
“Nazi vaccines” and “needle Nazis” have been echoed by elected
politicians.  

Supporters of the movement have often trivialized
the Holocaust, including by wearing yellow stars marked with the label
“unvaccinated” and arguing that “the old enemy was the Jew; the new
enemy is the virus” or “once people were accused for not doing the
Hitler salute; today they are criticized for not wearing the mask
properly.”