Holocaust denial finds new life in Oct. 7 revisionism

October 7 saw the largest number of Jews killed in a single day since the Holocaust, and much like the Holocaust, online conspiracy theorists are denying or revising facts relating to the tragedy, according to The Washington Post and previous articles by The Jerusalem Post.

Mirela Monte, a US-based real estate agent, told the Post that she had been "appalled" when news first broke about Hamas's massive terror attack, which stole the lives of over 1200 people. However, Monte later discovered a Telegram group known as 'Uncensored Truths,' which led her to believe that the tragedy had been carried out by Israel, not Hamas. 

The group, which has nearly 3000 members, shared content and conspiracies relating to foreign policy and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Monte told the Post that Israel had carried out the "false flag" attack to justify a war with Gaza, claiming that the state is "Pure evil" and "Israel is like a mad dog off a leash."

Despite extensive video evidence, witness testimony and confessions from Hamas terrorists, Monte and her Telegram group are just a small number of many who believe that the October 7 massacre never happened. 

The Jerusalem Post reported in November that Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former leader of the UK's Labour Party, claimed that Israeli children killed on October 7 were "actors." 

Corbyn claimed that October 7 was a "lie" to "justify an invasion and genocide to take the oil, to destroy Palestine and to make an Israeli superstate."

This is @jeremycorbyn brother Piers Corbyn saying no Jews died on Oct 7 and it was actors. This is no different from holocaust denial, he should be arrested @antisemitism @CST_UK pic.twitter.com/bp9FF1DxQc

— NFE 〓〓 (@NFESpur) October 28, 2023

The Network Contagion Research Institute found that TikTok, Reddit, and 4chan hashtags accusing Israel of staging, or misleading narratives, about October 7 were tripled in the weeks after the attack.

“There’s a built-in audience that wants to deny that Jews are the victims of atrocity and furthers the notion that Jews are secretly behind everything,” said Joel Finkelstein, chief science officer at NCRI, according to The Post.

While Holocaust denial is usually associated with the far right,  October 7 denial is not limited to any political affiliation. The Post found that in the left-wing Reddit group r/LateStageCapitalism October 7 denial was rampant.  

“So basically the Hamas attack was a false flag for Israel to occupy Gaza and kill Palestinians,” read one of the posts discovered by The Post. “Expected behaviour from nazi wannabes.”

Distorting fact into fiction

Information about the tragedy has also been taken out of context and distorted, the investigation found. Some Israeli citizens made claims, which the IDF confirmed it would investigate, that some October 7 victims had been caught in the crossfire while the IDF was attempting to eliminate the Hamas threat. In response to these claims, sites like Electronic Intifada and Grayzone claimed that most Israeli deaths were caused by Israel and not Hamas - a claim entirely unsubstantiated and contrary to expansive evidence.

 Emerson Brooking, author of Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media, told The Post "It’s generally indisputable that Hamas did something — the pro-Hamas camp can’t erase that entirely. But they can keep chipping away at it, and over time, you’re seeing a rewriting of history.”

Old antisemitism finds new face

The Post's investigation also found that the influx of October 7 denial had created the opportunity for Holocaust deniers to create new allies and spread their antisemitic ideology. Neo-Nazis have reportedly been showing up to pro-Palestinian rallies, tailoring their conspiracies to ones palitable to the protesters. 

The Jerusalem Post has been shown examples of this in the past, with one activist sharing photos of such content being displayed in a December pro-Palestinian march in London. 

The sign reads "This isn't 2001 nobody believes you" which is a reference to the September 11 attacks. A common antisemitic conspiracy claims that it had been Israel and the Jews, not al-Qaeada, behind the 9/11 attacks in New York. This conspiracy gained new traction with Gen Z, as Osama Bin Laden's 2002 letter blaming Israel for the terrorist attack went viral on TikTok. 

The new 'social justice' brand of antisemitism has taken off with Gen Z. In December, The Jerusalem Post shared a survey that found that 67% of young Americans between the ages of 18-24 believe that Jews as a class are oppressors and should be treated as oppressors. 

The poll also found that 2 out of 3 Americans aged between 18-24 supported an unconditional ceasefire which would leave hostages kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza and allow Hamas to continue governing the Strip.