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How the Coronavirus Pandemic Has Sparked Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories

(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Fiamma Nirenstein - The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of spreading Covid-19 and refusing to explain to the Palestinians how to fight it, even though Israeli hospitals invited Palestinian doctors, including those from Gaza, to brief them about preventive measures. Israelis, they say, are sending Palestinian workers back to the territories in order to spark a massive surge in infections and are intentionally infecting Palestinian prisoners and even children. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has claimed that Israeli soldiers are trying to spread the virus by spitting on the door handles of cars driven by Palestinians. Al-Hayat al-Jadida - the official daily of the Palestinian Authority - on March 16 published a cartoon depicting the coronavirus as a large tank pursuing a Palestinian carrying an infant. The EU is certainly right when it helps the PA combat Covid-19. But why does it not make this aid conditional on stopping the most vulgar forms of anti-Semitism? Why hasn't the EU addressed the Palestinian and the Iranian regime's insistence on blaming the Jews for Covid-19? The writer, a member of the Italian Parliament who served as vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Chamber of Deputies, is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center.
2020-04-24 00:00:00
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