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https://theconversation.com/gaza-and-ukraine-are-separate-conflicts-but-conspiracy-theorists-are-trying-to-link-the-two-on-social-media-new-research-215803>
"As the war between Israel and Hamas has intensified in Gaza, disinformation
and conspiracy theories about the conflict have been increasingly circulating
on social media.
At least that’s what I found in my analysis of some 12,000 comments posted on
Telegram channels in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 attack on
Israel. Not surprisingly, I also found language about the war was more likely
to be threatening or hateful than language used in comments about other topics.
Many comments on Telegram also linked the Israel-Hamas conflict to dangerous,
antisemitic conspiracy theories related to the war between Russia and Ukraine,
hundreds of kilometres away on another continent.
For instance, I found the Russian invasion of Ukraine was characterised by
these conspiracy theorists as a justified resistance against the “Khazarian
Mafia” (so-called “fake Jews”) who supposedly govern Ukraine either as Nazis,
or like them.
Commenters on Telegram characterised Hamas’ October 7 attack in similar terms –
as an attack against “fake Zionist Ashkenazi Jews” and Nazis.
Both conflicts were also characterised as “new world order” plots. Proponents
of these conspiracies believe that powerful elites (often characterised as
Jewish) are secretly trying to establish a totalitarian world government or
other forms of global oppression.
A comment in one of the channels summarised this view, arguing “these
globalists are evil starting a second psyop [psychological operation] front
after Ukraine failed”.
Other comments linked the two conflicts by calling Western supporters of
Ukraine hypocrites for condemning the actions of Hamas. As one user argued:
“The West’s weapons in Ukraine [were] sent to Hamas for the offensive.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
