The Anti-Defamation League compiled a report of anti-Zionist and antisemitic influencers, activists and leaders reacting to the strike by Israel early Friday morning on Iran.
The reactions featured “predictable rhetoric: open hatred of Jews and hoping for the destruction of Israel,” according to the ADL.
“It’s not uncommon for statements made by influencers or even extremists to impact public opinion and spread widely on social-media platforms, where many people form their worldview,” Oren Segal, ADL senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence, told JNS. “More importantly, statements that encourage violence contribute to an environment more likely to foster further violence.”
Anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric came from multiple fronts, including anti-Zionist activists, white supremacists and Islamist extremists.
“The bombing of children, the assassination of leaders, the attempted destruction of nations: this is the Zionist entity and U.S. (and European) imperialism,” wrote the extremist anti-Zionist group Samidoun—sanctioned by the U.S. government for serving as a fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group—on Telegram. “There is no path to peace, security or justice without bringing them to an end. Victory for Iran, victory for humanity.”
The Bronx Anti-War Coalition forwarded a message to followers on Telegram that read: “We want a deadly response. We want a human toll on the Zionist side.”
Right-wing influencer Candace Owens said Israel “has a bloodlust like no other.” Ryan Murdough, a white supremacist and the leader of the New England White Network, stated, “Jews belong in labor camps” and “Iran, please do the world a favor and nuke Israel off the planet.”