New research shows how far-right groups are encouraging followers to “deliberately infect” Jews with COVID-19 and target other minorities

New research has shown how far-right groups are encouraging followers to “deliberately infect” Jews with COVID-19 and target other minorities.

The Commission for Countering Extremism has said that a variety of groups have been seeking to “breed hate” and promote conspiracy theories, including that the pandemic is part of a Jewish plot.

According to Sara Khan, the lead commissioner, the research shows that there are five primary categories of conspiracy theory targeting Jews, namely that “the virus is fake and part of a Jewish plot to mislead the public, that it’s real and was deliberately created for malevolent purposes, that Jews are the primary spreaders of the virus, that Jewish people are dying in disproportionately higher numbers and posts that incite others to deliberately spread the virus to Jews.”

The research also notes how Islamists are using the pandemic to radicalise followers and promote anti-Western narratives.

Ms Khan has called for action against such conspiracy theories and the groups that promote them.

Various reports, including by Campaign Against Antisemitism, have shown how the far-right and others have exploited the pandemic to target the Jewish community.