The tragedy of October 7 is now etched into history as the largest genocide of the Jewish people since the Holocaust, marking a definitive date for a People whose history is once again divided between “before the massacre” and “after the massacre.”
The catastrophic events that unfolded in Southern Israel were followed by a steep rise in antisemitism in the Diaspora. Masses of protesters rallied across the world, blaming Israelis and Jews for a war started against them. From Sydney to New York, thousands of people clutched explicit calls for the genocide of millions of Jews, celebrating October 7 as an act of defiance against evil.
This surge in antisemitism was not surprising but rather, expected by those who have been closely monitoring the steady increase in antisemitic trends. As someone who has been actively engaging and working to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism, I braced myself, waiting for the news cycle to quickly replace its headlines barely reporting on the heinous indiscriminate mass murder of families, women, and children alike for ferocious condemnations against Israel’s right to self-defense.
This time, however, for those previously shielded from the harsh reality of antisemitism, the shock was palpable. Friends and family watched the news in a two-folded shock: From the trauma of watching the footage of the barbarities, from witnessing the justification, and at times questioning the validity of such crimes by the press.
The question that many have asked me is, “Why is Israel consistently portrayed as evil?” Even in the face of heinous crimes, where entire families were burned alive, and mass rapes and beheadings occurred, the media inexplicably continued to focus on the Jewish people as the sole culprits of the current war in Gaza.
ONE CONCEPT that has been lingering in the back of my mind for the past three weeks is “confirmation bias” which refers to the tendency of people to accept information, even when it is questionable if it aligns with their preexisting beliefs.
A threat to Western civilization
Throughout history, Jews have frequently been scapegoated as the greatest threat to Western civilization, adapting to the prevailing core values of the time. In periods when Christianity was society’s core, the Jews were blamed for deicide. When ethnic purity was paramount, the Jews were accused of poisoning the purity of the Aryan race. The Jewish people have been consistently depicted as malevolent figures. Today, Jews are unfoundedly blamed for being colonizers of a land to which they have millennia-long ethnic and religious ties.
Confirmation bias plays a critical role in perpetuating this vilification. Hate speech only serves to reaffirm existing biases, and contemporary antisemites – as did their ancestors – continue to propagate anti-Jewish hate motifs to fit their view of what evil is.
The reaction to the bombing of Al-Ahli Hospital by prominent news outlets and public figures can serve as a recent example of confirmation bias. Instead of waiting for investigations on who carried out the bombing, figures such as Rashida Tlaib rushed to announce Israel as the culprit. In spite of the extensive evidence supporting that it was a Hamas rocket that exploded, Tlaib continues to blame Israel for it. No amount of analysis and evidence could sway her, as the false narrative better corroborates her preconceived bias that the State of Israel aims to kill civilians.
When people grow up with the belief that Jews intend to harm Palestinian children, or alternatively Christian or Aryan children, they require no fact-checking or verification when they hear about Israel bombing a hospital. Their confirmation bias allows them to think, “Of course the Jews killed babies. They are evil, and evil people do such things.”
Examining antisemitism through the lens of confirmation bias provides a better understanding of its persistence.
In the ongoing battle against antisemitism, education remains a powerful tool. To combat these biases effectively, we must move beyond surface-level fact-checking and focus on the deeper roots of this prejudice, to address it at its core.
It’s vital that we collectively acknowledge this issue, for only through understanding and open dialogue can we hope to break free from the cycle of prejudice and misinformation that threatens Western society.
The writer holds an M.A. from Reichman University and is the communications manager at ISGAP, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.