Jewish officials handling hurricane communications face antisemitic harassment

(JTA) — WASHINGTON — Jewish government officials are being targeted with antisemitic attacks in a misinformation blitz hampering efforts to get critical information out to victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and Jaclyn Rothenberg, the spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, have been the subject of an onslaught of antisemitic abuse on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. 

The antisemitism has appeared among a welter of misinformation that has complicated efforts to deliver aid and services to victims of the hurricane. FEMA three days ago created a rumor-refuting page website, and Rothenberg’s professional X feed now reads like a Whac-A-Mole game of knocking away misinformation. One thread last week refuted false rumors that FEMA stole donations delivered to nonprofits.

“There are many dangerous, misleading rumors spreading about #Helene response, which can actively prevent survivors from getting help,” she said on Thursday. “Our top priority is ensuring that disaster assistance is reaching people in need.”

Her replies overflowed with antisemitic comments. “Hey look, a lying Jew,” said one typical commenter. “Oh look you’re Jewish,” said another.

The White House called on politicians to condemn the smears and the falsehoods.

Distrust and misinformation during crisis response

“It is already heinous to attack a bipartisan disaster response with conspiracy theories that put vulnerable Americans — people who have lost loved ones and homes — in even more danger and cheat them out of the aid they deserve,” Andrew Bates, an administration spokesman, said in an email. “Now those lies are also infected with revolting antisemitic smears, targeting a mayor who’s doing everything in her power to help her community stand together, and federal responders working around the clock to save lives and deliver critical necessities like food, water, and medical supplies.”

Manheimer, the Asheville mayor, is the subject of one of the most viral posts on X. “The Mayor of Asheville, North Carolina is Esther E. Manheimer,” said a post on Friday that accumulated more than 13 million views by Monday. “If you’re wondering: yes, she is.” (The implication, in social media parlance common on the far right, is that yes, Manheimer is Jewish.)

Another post that has acquired close to a million views features photos of Manheimer, Rothenberg and Mayorkas and identifies each as “jew.” Manheimer and the Department of Homeland Security did not return requests for comment.

Rothenberg, a political communications veteran who worked for former New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s administration and then for the 2020 Biden campaign, said she has seen nothing like the current round of abuse and misinformation.

“My job is to put out information that helps people during a really difficult time,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Sunday. “We’re here to help people on their worst day, and so it’s been really surprising to see the reaction from people on social media who have made it about antisemitism when we’re here to do a job, and that’s to help people recover from Hurricane Helene.”

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has peddled some of the false claims, including that money meant for hurricane relief is diverted to migrants — though he has not trafficked in any antisemitic rhetoric when discussing the hurricane. 

Lawmakers of both parties say that the misinformation is diverting energies needed to get relief to those who need it.

“Please don’t let these crazy stories consume you or have you continually contact your elected officials to see if they are true,” Kevin Corbin, a Republican state senator in North Carolina, pleaded with his constituents on Facebook. “I’ve been working on this 12 hours a day since it started and I’m growing a bit weary of intentional distractions from the main job.”

Corbin cited the conspiracy theory that officials or bad actors control the weather, an antisemitic trope peddled by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has apologized for her past embrace of the theory that the Rothschild family used space lasers to cause wildfires. She echoed the trope again last week.

“Yes they can control the weather,” she said Thursday on X. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

Within two days, her tweet became a joke on Saturday Night Live. “I don’t know who ‘they’ is, but it has been a suspiciously nice Rosh Hashanah weekend,” said comedian Michael Che during the “Weekend Update” segment.

Government officials say X remains one of the most efficient means for the government to get out information to the public, but it has also become a nexus for falsehoods, antisemitism and other forms of bigotry — particularly since Elon Musk bought the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022 and weakened or removed guardrails around hate speech and disinformation. 

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, mentioned the attacks on Manheimer and others when he appeared on Sunday on CNN to discuss the spike in antisemitism in the year since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel.

“There has been an avalanche of antisemitic conspiracies directed at the mayor, directed at FEMA, as if somehow the Mossad is involved in distributing disaster relief,” he said.

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a national public policy group, said antisemitism and efforts to undermine government went hand in hand. “Antisemitic conspiracy theories are intended to sow distrust in our government and our democracy — leading directly to harassment and threats against Jews and ultimately making all of us unsafe,” she said.

Rothenberg said the only role her Judaism played was in motivating her to public service. 

“Judaism teaches you the importance of helping others,” she said. “And I am determined to continue helping people and making sure they have access to support from our agency.”