In this briefing, we examine the Google+ community Jew Watch (ID# 118209629236555838349). While most of its content is antisemitic, it also promotes white supremacist, homophobic and anti-Muslim content.

In this briefing, we will examine the antisemitic character of this community illustrating it with several examples from the community page. We divide the antisemitic content into four categories: dehumanizing Jews, holocaust denial, traditional antisemitism and new antisemitism. Next, we will also look at some examples of white supremacist, homophobic and anti-Muslim hate posted on this page. Finally, we discuss how to report the community and the posts on it.

An Antisemitic Community

The Jew Watch community is a space for antisemites to congregate and promote conspiracy theories, canards and lies about the Jewish people. Its name “Jew Watch” itself promotes the idea that the Jewish race is somehow suspect, and hence needs to be “watched” or monitored.

Its profile pic, shown below, is a cartoon picture depicting a negative stereotype of a Jewish man with a black beard, long hooked nose, a hunched back, crooked teeth, and hands being wrung in glee. The image was created by a white supremacist cartoonist and has been online in neo-Nazi circles since at least 2004. OHPI published a report “The Antisemitic Meme of the Jew” on the history and significance of this image, and why we its widespread usage needs to be curbed. The report can be accessed for free here.

In fact, a post (shown below) from this community itself shows how the meme is repeatedly used to represent “the evil Jew”.

The categories within which the posts fall also give away the community’s antisemitic character. They highlight some of the most popular conspiracy theories associated with the Jews: Jews are not white, world domination, communism, Israel / Mossad, 9/11, 666, NWO conspiracy, Talmud and more.

The antisemitic content on the page demonizes and dehumanizes the Jews, spreads conspiracy theories about them, promotes Holocaust denial or indulges in Israel-related new antisemitism.

Dehumazing Jews

First, we look at some examples of content that dehumanizes Jews as a race, presenting them as demonic, evil and inhuman.

Holocaust Denial

In this section, we look at some examples of content from this community promoting Holocaust denial. As we have mentioned in our previous briefings – Holocaust denial and Social Media, Reporting Proud Holocaust Deniers, and Holocaust denial on Facebook – social media has given a new platform to air theories of Holocaust denial which have found no acceptance in the mainstream media or respectable academic circles. This is not just deeply insulting and hurtful to the Holocaust survivors and their families, it also promotes the idea that the Jews are lying about their sufferings for political gain. Such speech usually involves denying the Holocaust ever happened, questioning the number of Jews killed, and/or mocking the Holocaust victims.

Traditional antisemitism

In this section, we look at examples of content which promote conspiracy theories about the Jews, such as the Jews controlling all the important societal institutions such as the media, economy, governments or the Jews being responsible for 9/11. We also give examples of content that also uses the classic trope of using the actions of particular Jewish person/persons to colour on the whole race.

The origin of many conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the world goes back to the infamous “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”: a forged 1895 document supposedly reporting a secret rabbinical conference to review Jewish control of the world over the past hundred years and to plan how to control it for the next century. We have discussed the origins of this myth here.

Along the lines of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” conspiracy theory, this community is promoting the theory that the rise of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is being engineered by the Jewish community to the detriment of the Western civilization. Below, we show some examples of such content.

New Antisemitism

In this section, we look at examples of content promoting new antisemitism, that is antisemitism which suggests that Jews do not have the right to self-determination and that Israel is an evil, bloodthirsty, illegitimate state that has no right to exist. It accuses the Israeli government of having committed or planning to commit many acts of terror against the world. Such accusations are based on insinuations rather than facts and their objective is fear mongering.

 

729 is the bar code for goods made in Israel. It has been posted to promote the Boycott of Israel-made products campaign.

Anti-immigrant/racist/homophobic content

The community also promotes the idea that multiculturalism is a bad policy, as it is flooding the traditionally white-dominated countries with people of other ethnicities and non-Christian cultures. In effect, the policy is leading to a white genocide.

It also promotes homophobic content.

 

How to report content on Google+

Here is a quick set of instructions on how to report a Google+ community. Please report this Google+ community. It is the first step towards getting them removed.

Step 1: Click Report abuse at the bottom of the left sidebar.

Step 2: Specify what you are reporting, in this case Hate speech or graphic violence. Click Submit

Step 3: The community page has now been reported. Click Okay to close the reporting interface.

For an illustrated guide to reporting a Google + community, click here.

 

Here’s how to report posts on Google+.

Step 1: Move the cursor over the post to reveal a chevron (v shape) at the top right of the post. Click the chevron to reveal the post options, then click Report this post.

Step 2: Specify what you are reporting, in this case Something else.

Step 3: Click what is wrong with this post, in this case It’s hateful, harassing, or bullying.

Step 4: Step 4 Select how it is hateful, in this case Hateful towards a group.

Step 5: Click Continue.

Step 6: The post has now been reported.

 

For more an illustrated guide on reporting posts on Google+, please go here.

 

Here’s how to report comments on Google+.

Step 1: Step 1 Move the cursor over the comment to reveal a flag at the top right of the comment. Moving the cursor over the flag will show a tooltip: Report spam or abuse. Click the flag to report the comment.

Step 2: The comment has now been reported. Click Add more details to specify the issue with the comment.

Step 3: Select the kind of abuse you are reporting; in this case Hate speech or graphic violence. Click Continue.

Step 4: The comment has now been reported with additional information.

For an illustrated guide on reporting posts on Google+, please go here.

 

OHPI is an Australian charity dedicated to reducing and preventing harm caused by online hate. We fight online racism, religious vilification, misogyny, serious trolling and cyberbullying. You can support us by liking our Facebook Page or following us on Twitter (@onlinehate). We have also built an online hate reporting tool fightagainsthate.com, where you can report online hate that Facebook, Twitter or YouTube has not removed despite your reporting it.