This briefing outlines another New Zealand-based channel on Telegram. Antisemitism in this channel covers Holocaust denial, incitement to violence, dehumanisation, and world Jewish conspiracy.

Through assessing this Telegram group, it was also evident that antisemitism on this channel largely increased after October 7th, 2023.

Holocaust Denial

In the example below, the poster speaks of “fake holohoax”, supposedly exposed by the priest in the forwarded video. The term “Holohoax” has become commonly used to suggest that the Holocaust did not happen. In this instance, the poster suggests it was a complete lie made up by the Jews.

It is also worth noting the use of “Jewmerica”, suggesting Jews run America, which plays on the antisemitic trope that Jews control the government and other societal institutions.

Incitement to Violence

The following post uses the demonisation of Jews and Israelis (“JEWS, JESUITS and ISRAELIS are TERRORISTS WHO SPONSOR TERRORISM, BIOWARFARE and WAR CRIMES” and “They kill children!”) to call for harm to Jewish people, Israelis, Jew/Israeli sympathisers, and their property. For instance the poster says “make jews and jesuits homeless” and “gang up on jews” by using “extreme violence”.

Dehumanisation

The AI image below was forwarded in the channel. It features a Jewish man (signified by the kippah/head covering with the Star of David and Israeli flag on it) reading a book. The man is conjoined with a cockroach, which is a frequently used depiction of Jews, relating to Nazi propaganda likening Jews to insects and vermin.

Worth noting are the caricatures in the corners of the image. One is a modified Happy Merchant, an old antisemitic drawing of a Jew used to convey Jews as deceitful and manipulative. It is wearing American flag imagery to suggest that the Jews run the United States government. The other modified Happy Merchant is a depiction of Susan Wojcicki, evidenced by the hair and the “JewTube” armband. Wojcicki is the former CEO of YouTube who happens to be Jewish.

The following post generalises Jews with a multitude of offensive claims, including that they universally adopt an “abrasive mindset”, and describing Jews as “greedy & selfobsessed”. This post “others” Jews by separating the world into “us and them” as a tool to demonise Jewish people. The dehumanisation continues by calling all Jews “monsters” and “antihuman”.

In the following example, the poster compares photos of Hitler and Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Russian Communist Party and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, with “Aryan vs rat jew”. “Rat jew” is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda comparing Jews to vermin in an effort to dehumanise and demonise Jews to the public.

World Jewish Conspiracy

The example below illustrates a traditional antisemitic trope about Jews running/controlling the world or planning on taking over the world. The post includes a reference to the “jew system”, and how it will “always remain in power” as long as it is “fed”. It suggests that Jews are uncivilised, evil, and inhumane.

Conclusion

In the Online Hate Prevention Institute’s recent reports about online antisemitism before and after October 7, Telegram was one of the worst performing platforms when it came to both the amount of antisemitism found, as well as its failure to remove hate speech.