'October 7th Truther' Movement Is Spreading, Blaming Israel Instead of the Terrorists

On the social media platform TikTok, a video features a man saying, "This is day 16 of your daily reminder that Israel, not Hamas, is responsible for the massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7th 2023."
 
Called "October 7th Truthers," they believe Israel was behind the attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and led to hundreds of Israelis being taken hostage that fateful day. 

The massacre by Hamas is one of the most well-documented crimes in history, livestreamed for the world to see, and yet October 7th denial is spreading.
 
It entered the mainstream when an Oakland, California city employee blamed Israel for the attack during a city council meeting, telling officials, "There were not beheadings of babies and rapings (sic). Israel murdered their own people on October 7th." 
 
Israeli military helicopter footage has been misused to claim that the IDF intentionally fired at its own citizens. 
 
And in the "Conspiracy" forum on Reddit with 2 million members, a person writes, "There is a 100% chance Israel is behind all of this. It's not like they don't have a long track record of false flag terrorism."
 
Another anti-Semite writes, "The world is a stage run by the sons of Zion." 

Calling the October 7 Truther movement "the ultimate fake news," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center says antisemitism since October 7 last year has "skyrocketed."
 
Cooper added, "And those who have not experienced it personally, all they have to do is go up on social media. It's pervasive, it's increasing. Social media is tailor-made for conspiracy theories. You can manipulate photos, videos, information to bend it to whatever your reality is, including creating a flat earth, whatever it might be."
 
Cooper said the Jewish community was already in "crisis mode" before October 7th. Now, the Anti-Defamation League says Jews face a threat level "unprecedented in modern history."

In December, almost 200 Jewish organizations across the U.S. were targeted with swatting incidents; false reports to the police of shootings or bomb threats. One Alabama synagogue had to be evacuated during a Shabbat service because of a bomb threat.
 
Philip Ensler, an Alabama state representative who is also Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama said, "People are on edge. They're nervous and we're going to continue to reassure them it's safe to come to services."
 
Even the antisemitism on college campuses is being called a "false flag" created by Jews. The website Grayzone says it's a "contrived campus antisemitism crisis."
 
Cooper says no amount of evidence will change the minds of those who want to believe a conspiracy theory.
 
He said, "The Nazis worked so hard to cover up their crimes and to erase evidence of their crimes.  Hamas, they were live streaming it. We have people who don't want to be confused by the facts. They don't want their world view to be interrupted, even if it involves crimes against humanity and possible genocide."