Edited by: TJVNews.com
As the dramatic escalation of visceral anti-Semitism continues to dominate headlines around the globe, it appears one of the venues where such hatred thrives is the social media arena. In addition to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the Chinese based Tik Tok is trending towards becoming a magnet for Jew-hatred in its most reprehensible forms.
According to a recently published report on the Insider.com web site, journalist Joshua Sitzer, writes that no one is immune from the odious expression of anti-Semitic rhetoric and even worse. In particular, the rate of Jew hatred verbiage on social media has literally skyrocketed since Hamas began launching incessant barrages of rockets directly into Israel about two weeks ago.
The report on Insider.com speaks of a 97-year old Jewish woman named Lily Ebert who resides in London. Ms. Ebert survived the Auschwitz death camp in southern Poland where 1.5 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi machine.
Online mobs of Jew haters could not resist the temptation to stoke the flames of the Mid-East conflict even more by responding to Ms. Ebert’s TikTok video. From her London home, Ms. Ebert posted a video on TikTok wishing her followers a restful Shabbos. The insider.com report indicated that her great-grandson and the administrator of the account said that messages of hate were flooding her account as a reaction to the harmless video.
The report on insider.com stated that such malevolent messages in response to Ebert’s video on TikTok included a “Happy Holocaust,” “Peace be upon Hitler,” and “Ask her if she thinks the treatment of Palestinians reminds her of the treatment she got in the camps.”
Insider’s Sarah Al-Arshani reported that the Anti-Defamation League said that between May 7th and May 14th of this year, more than 17,000 tweets could be found that used variations of the phrase, “Hitler was right.”
This increase in Jew hatred was corroborated by the Community Security Trust (CST) which recently said that there has been a 500 percent increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents that were reported in the United Kingdom since May 8th.
The problem of mounting racism online and on social media platforms does not end here. All the pent up resentment and palpable hatred that people have for Jews not only erupted in a volcanic style since the beginning of the Hamas rocket strikes against Israel but have taken on a life of their own in multiple manifestations. TikTok has morphed in to a repository for Jew hatred because it is based in China and, as such, the restrictions on what can and cannot be posted essentially do not exist. Many who are familiar with this platform say that because a list of violations of social norms do not exist, TikTok is a breeding ground for race baiters, white supremacists and Jew haters throughout the world.
People who participate on TikTok are described as creators and one can assume that they are creating content that will inspire others but it appears that the converse is true in many cases.
Insider spoke to several Jewish creators who described how the recent rise of anti-Jewish racism online, triggered by recent events in Israel and Gaza, has created an atmosphere so toxic that many are fearful for their safety and have considered leaving social media for good.
Insider reported that Sara Gibbs, a London-based Jewish comedy writer said that Jews living in the diaspora (anywhere outside of the land of Israel) were being held responsible for the lives lost in Gaza throughout the 11 days of fighting.
On a different note, observers pointed out that there is little or no mention at all in the mainstream media that Hamas has consistently used their own people, (namely Palestinians) living in Gaza as human shields. Their goal is to create a public relations imbroglio and nightmare for Israel by launching rockets in residential areas.
Despite the fact that Israel takes great pains to send multiple warning messages to Palestinians to leave their homes before attacks occur, somehow Hamas manages to have a sufficient amount of children and women in the crosshairs when the Israelis respond. Others have provided credible evidence that Palestinian civilians were actually murdered by Hamas rockets but the narrative was crafted that pointed the finger of guilt at Israel.
“Ordinary Jews are blamed for the actions of a state thousands of miles away,” Gibbs told Insider. “Regardless of what you feel about Israel, we don’t have a collective responsibility for the actions of a foreign government. To suggest otherwise is just plain racism.”
The Insider report also indicated that Jewish creators said that their accounts are being spammed without even referencing the conflict, and any content identifying themselves as Jewish is more than sufficient in attracting anti-Semitic invective.
Melinda Strauss, a TikToker with over 36,000 followers, said that her videos chronicling her life as an Orthodox Jew in New York also frequently receive racist responses, as was reported by the Insider site. “When I’m talking about keeping kosher at Trader Joe’s, why are people commenting and saying these things?” she told Insider.
