Reported Soros funding of anti-Israel encampments sparks antisemitic conspiracy theories

The reported funding of anti-Israel protests and pro-Hamas encampments throughout US campuses sparked a wave of conspiracy theories on social media, going even further than other libels have gone so far.

One of these modern age blood libels, which once again showcases Jews in a conspiratorial scheming light, accuses billionaire philanthropist George Soros of being Israel’s pawn in an attempt to either inflame inner conflicts or distract public discourse from the ongoing war in Gaza. Soros is known for funding progressive organizations.

In a post reaching almost 120,000 views, fringe conspiracy theorist David Icke similarly accused Soros of being “Israel’s man,” accusing “Ultra Zionist Sabbatian Cultists” of ‘funding both sides’ in an attempt to stir civil war in the US, all the while controlling both Biden and Trump, pointing at the ethno-religious background of high ranking members in the US administration.

Another X account named “World Alternative Media” tweeted concisely: “George Soros is an agent of Israel. He’s funding the Pro-Palestine protests. Do you understand yet?” with comments accusing Soros of being “an agent of the Rothschild family, which helped create Israel.”

Likewise, an account named Dark Knight claimed that “Soros IS part of Israel, but is funding anti-Israel protests,” claiming that “This is all right in front of you, in your faces. Sow division, profit from that, then offer the solution.” Additionally, a user named SHAREverything accused ‘Zionists’ of “pulling every BS propaganda trick under the sun to try to deflect and divert the public’s attention from the gruesome crimes Jews are committing in Palestine with US tax dollars. Soros funding protests, Quran burning by “Christians” you name it, they’re pulling it.”

Gaining ground in mainstream outlets

Though these may be perceived as fringe and far-fetched lunatic theories, they appear to have gained ground in some more conventional media outlets. This includes the anti-Israel website Mondoweiss, which published a caricature by caricaturist Carlos Latuff depicting “mainstream media” being drawn by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the issue of the rampant antisemitism on campuses, while allegedly and perhaps intentionally stealing the focus from the situation in Gaza.

The headlines made by major Ivy League institutions sparked antisemitism from other directions as well. An antisemitic account named Censored Men, with a whopping 1,000,000 followers, alleged in a viral tweet that got over 1.3 million views that 75% of Ivy League schools are “run by Zionist Jews” providing a full list of the school presidents accused of being such.

This time it was clearly pro-Palestinian accounts who expressed antisemitic conspiracies. One Gazan journalist named Fayed Abushammalah commented “This is reality. They control America as well. Mr. #Biden is also a Zionist. Mr. #Blinken is a Zionist Jew.”

One user named Tariq Qamar whose name is adorned with a Palestinian flag and a red triangle used in Hamas propaganda as a target for attacks against Israelis, added “Fcking Jews have captured almost every top university in the US.”

Another user with a Palestinian flag named “Echo of Dissent” claimed as a response to the ‘list of Zionists in academia’ that “only about 1.2% of the US population are Zionists as well as Jewish. Still don’t believe in a conspiracy?” Another one named Ross Appleton added that “This is why universities are responding so negatively to the protests of the students. They’ve got them by the balls.”

Other instances of rampant antisemitism in the comments section included some users who accused Jews/Zionists as a group of being anti-black, accusing them of promoting ‘DEI and pro-immigration policies’ but ‘never putting them to practice.’ Another commenter uploaded a viral picture of a demonstrator holding a sign claiming that ‘the whole world is occupied by Israel except for Gaza,’ while others deemed this overrepresentation as a ‘cancer’, and many expressed hatred and fear towards what they described as a Jewish or Zionist control over the US.

Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, CEO and founder of CyberWell, an NGO driving enforcement and improvement of standards and policies to fight antisemitism on social media, explained that some conspiracy theorists online, including influential October 7 deniers, accuse some of the more noteworthy and violent anti-Israel protests of actually being “undercover Zionists”.

“Blaming Jews for acting as undercover agents, orchestrating the violence and hatred on college campuses is the latest iteration in the antisemitic denial narrative online, that goes hand-in-hand with fingering Soros as an Israeli agent –blaming the Jews for the violence and hatred aimed at them.” She added, “This is a key pillar of the denialist narrative, meant to justify violence and discrimination against Jewish people.”