Hamas Massacre Denialism is Spreading

"False flag" claims about Israel are another form of antisemitism

I want to make sure you are aware of something truly demonic I am beginning to see on the fringes of our culture. We’ve seen a surge in antisemitism over the past several years but especially in the weeks following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Now we are seeing the newest form of hatred for Israel and the Jews.

Some people are disputing that the Hamas attacks happened at all.

A small but rapidly growing segment of the population is now denying the horrific events of October 7. They are trying to minimize the violence of Hamas. They are calling it a “false flag” operation. They say Israel was behind the massacre in order to justify an invasion of Gaza, or even that it’s part of a plot by the United States.

Just like Holocaust denial, this kind of antisemitic thinking is extremely dangerous and I want you to be aware of it in case you encounter it among people you know.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported about the surge in October 7 deniers:

These untrue and misleading narratives have been seeded on social media, where hashtags linking Israel to “false flag”—a staged event that casts blame on another party—tripled on services including TikTok, Reddit and 4chan in the weeks after the attacks, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit tracking disinformation.

It’s bleeding into the real world: Demonstrators have shouted the claim at anti-Israel protests and have used it to justify removing posters of hostages in cities like London and Chicago. At a November city council meeting in Oakland, Calif., multiple residents disputed the veracity of the attack.

That’s nonsense. The Hamas attack happened in real-time. Thanks to cell service and smartphones, it’s one of the most well-documented events in the history of the world. Tipping Point contributor Brian Schrauger reported on it in real-time. There are hundreds of thousands of hours of footage captured of that attack. This footage clearly shows Hamas operatives breaching the border, shooting at Israeli residents and taking Israeli hostages.

And yet some people are now saying it was all fake.