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Denial of the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel

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Since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which initiated the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, there has been a spread of conspiracy theories, largely on social media,[1] focused on the argument that the attacks or elements of the attacks were falsified or exaggerated.[2]

Background

On 7 October 2023, Palestinian militant forces led by Hamas coordinated multiple armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Following a wave of rocket attacks on Israel, militants breached the Gaza-Israel barrier, attacking Israeli military bases and carrying out multiple massacres of Israelis. Ultimately, 1,139 people were killed in the attacks, and around 250 were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, beginning the ongoing Israeli hostage crisis.

The course of the attacks was well documented, with militants extensively recording their actions with body cameras.[3]

Some reported atrocities attributed to Palestinian militants were later debunked, among them the supposed killing or beheading of babies and the burning alive of victims.[4][5][6] The extent of sexual violence perpetuated by militants or whether sexual violence occurred at all during the attacks is disputed.[5][7][8][9] According to Ynet, an "immense and complex quantity" of friendly-fire incidents occurred during the attacks.[10][11] Israel also likely applied the Hannibal Directive, resulting in the killing of some hostages as they were being transported back to the Gaza Strip.[12][13][14]

Debunked and disputed reports of atrocities during the attacks were described by Haaretz as providing "ammunition" to deniers.[4]

Spread

The spreading of falsehoods and misleading narratives that disputed that Hamas was responsible, or claims that minimized the violence that occurred, began to spread after the attack.[15][16] Common claims are that the IDF completely staged the attacks to justify an invasion of the Gaza Strip and that all or most Israelis killed during the attacks were killed by Israel itself.[2]

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, malign actors spreading disinformation purposefully decontextualized their reporting to "falsely claim that Haaretz corroborated the false theory that the IDF committed mass killings of its own people". According to Shayan Sardarizadeh, BBC Verify's disinformation expert, the "denialist narrative" that "it was Israel that killed its own civilians on 7 October, not Hamas" has "sadly become prominent online".[17] Some incidents of friendly fire by IDF soldiers and kibbutz security teams against civilians attempting to flee or captured and brought into Gaza during the October 7 attacks, were corroborated later.[18][19]

Researchers see parallels to disinformation surrounding the September 11th attacks, which some fringe groups argue was perpetrated by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Joel Finkelstein of Network Contagion Research Institute stated that "there's a built-in audience that wants to deny that Jews are the victims of atrocity and further the notion that Jews are secretly behind everything." He said efforts to say Israel was responsible for October 7 are part of a broader strategy by antisemitic extremists to undermine Jewish suffering.[15]

The claims were found across the internet, including on the Reddit subforum 'LateStageCapitalism' and on publications critical of Israel like The Electronic Intifada and The Grayzone. They have also been popularized by right-wing Holocaust deniers like Owen Benjamin and far-right conspiracy theorists. The claims are based on cherry-picked evidence to push misleading narratives.[15] A Telegram instant messaging group, that had also shared content and conspiracies relating to foreign policy and the COVID-19 pandemic, had nearly 3,000 people on it in January 2024 that pushed content and conspiracies blaming the attack on Israel.[20]

In March 2024 the Israeli firm CyberWell, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor, analyze and combat antisemitism on social media, reported that the company had found about 135 separate posts that had been viewed by more than 15 million users that denied the October 7 attacks. The company found that the identified posts were almost half from Twitter, with others posted to Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.[21]

Responses

Hamas itself has taken full credit for its leadership of the 7 October attacks.[22][23][24] In January 2024, the group released a report about the attacks titled "Our Narrative", which claims that its armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades avoided harming civilians yet admits "some faults" occurred as a result of the general chaos and rapid collapse of the Israeli defenses.[25]

Emerson Brooking from the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council pointed to Holocaust denial as what may happen to October 7, despite copious real-time documentation of the attacks.[15]

Jennifer V. Evans has also tied the denialism surrounding October 7 to Holocaust denial.[16]

Gideon Levy has compared October 7 denial to Nakba denial, where many Israelis deny the atrocities their country inflicted on the Palestinians during Israel's creation.[26] Levy argues that many Israelis also deny killings of civilians in the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.[26]

Gil Gan-Mor said that both Nakba denial and the denial of the October 7 attacks must be combated through education.[27]

Law against denial

On February 5, 2024, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs approved a bill aimed at penalizing denial of the October 7 attacks, imposing up to five years in prison for such acts. The bill, initiated by Yisrael Beiteinu MK Oded Forer, is aimed at individuals who deny the occurrence of the massacre or attempt to justify, praise, or support the acts carried out during the event.[28] The Association of Civil Rights in Israel said the law will have a "chilling effect on freedom of speech".[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Conspiracy Theories and Antisemitism: Unveiling Trends Post-October 7th". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. 28 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Growing Oct. 7 'truther' groups say Hamas massacre was a false flag". The Washington Post. 21 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Slain Hamas militants' body camera videos show the preparation and tactics behind their terror attack on Israel". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-10-28. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  4. ^ a b Hasson, Nir (4 December 2023). "Hamas Committed Documented Atrocities. But a Few False Stories Feed the Deniers". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b Unit, Al Jazeera Investigative (21 March 2024). "October 7: Forensic analysis shows Hamas abuses, many false Israeli claims". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  6. ^ Chance, Matthew; Greene, Richard Allen; Berlinger, Joshua (12 October 2023). "Israeli official says government cannot confirm babies were beheaded in Hamas attack". CNN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  7. ^ Philp, Catherine; Weiniger, Gabrielle (7 June 2024). "Israel says Hamas weaponised rape. Does the evidence add up?". The Times. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  8. ^ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (12 June 2024). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (Report). Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  9. ^ Pokharel, Sugam; Nicholls, Catherine; Yeung, Jessie; Karadsheh, Jomana (12 June 2024). "Inquiry says Israel and Hamas have both committed war crimes since October 7". CNN.
  10. ^ Zitun, Yoav (12 December 2023). "One-fifth of troop fatalities in Gaza due to friendly fire or accidents, IDF reports". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023. Casualties fell as a result of friendly fire on October 7, but the IDF believes that beyond the operational investigations of the events, it would not be morally sound to investigate these incidents due to the immense and complex quantity of them that took place in the kibbutzim and southern Israeli communities due to the challenging situations the soldiers were in at the time.
  11. ^ Cook, Jonathan (15 December 2023). "Why is western media ignoring evidence of Israel's own actions on 7 October?". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  12. ^ Bergman, Ronen; Zitun, Yoav (10 January 2024). "ההוראה: למנוע ממחבלים לחזור לעזה 'בכל מחיר', גם אם יש איתם חטופים" [The instructions: prevent terrorists from returning to Gaza "at all costs" even if there are hostages with them]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  13. ^ Bergman, Ronen; Zitun, Yoav (12 January 2024). "השעות הראשונות של השבת השחורה" [The first hours of Black Saturday]. Yedioth Ahronoth (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  14. ^ "UN finds at least 14 Israelis likely intentionally killed by own army on 7 October". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  15. ^ a b c d Dwoskin, Elizabeth (2024-01-21). "How the internet is erasing the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2024-01-21. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  16. ^ a b Prince, Cathryn (2024-01-29). "Are conspiracy theories about Oct. 7 a new form of Holocaust denial? Experts weigh in". Times of Israel. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  17. ^ "How Media Outlets Like Haaretz Are Weaponized in the Fake News Wars Over Israel and Hamas". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-02-06. In accordance with the disinformation playbook, malign actors have sought to hijack and manipulate the reputation and credibility of long-established news sources. In order to establish an "authentic" grounding for atrocity denial and conspiracy theories, it is unsurprising that influencers would seize on an established Israeli outlet like Haaretz, to co-opt its credibility and misrepresent its reporting. Haaretz has reported on two instances where sources told reporters that in the midst of the massacres, IDF forces firing at Hamas terrorists may have also hit, not confirmed killed, some civilians. Malign actors have exploited this reporting, published with no context, to purposefully decontextualize it and falsely claim that Haaretz corroborated the false theory that the IDF committed mass killings of its own people. This disinformation was then shared by others – some perhaps acting with good intentions, but creating misinformation nonetheless. According to the BBC's Sardarizadeh, the denialist narrative that "it was Israel that killed its own civilians on 7 October, not Hamas," has become appallingly widespread online.
  18. ^ Breiner, Josh; Peleg, Bar (2024-02-22). "Israeli Nova partygoer was misidentified as Hamas terrorist on October 7 and killed by Israeli forces". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  19. ^ "Families of 13 people killed in October 7 Kibbutz Be'eri firefight demand probe". The Times of Israel. 6 January 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  20. ^ Greyman-Kennard, Danielle (January 22, 2024). "Holocaust denial finds new life in Oct. 7 revisionism". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  21. ^ "Social media watchdog warns of trending denial of October 7 sexual violence". The Jerusalem Post. March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  22. ^ Jerusalem Post Staff (1 November 2023). "'We will repeat October 7 again and again' – Hamas official". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  23. ^ "Hamas official says group 'well aware' of consequences of attack on Israel, Palestinian liberation comes with 'sacrifices'". Arab News. 20 October 2023. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  24. ^ Hubbard, Ben; Abi-Habib, Maria (8 November 2023). "Behind Hamas's Bloody Gambit to Create a 'Permanent' State of War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Hamas says October 7 attack on Israel was a 'necessary step'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  26. ^ a b Levy, Gideon. "Israel Has No Right to Criticize Roger Waters and Other Deniers of Hamas' Oct 7 Atrocities". Haaretz.
  27. ^ "Why experts are concerned over Israeli bill banning October 7 denial". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
  28. ^ Adamker, Yadi (2024-02-05). "Israeli Ministerial Committee approves imprisonment for denying Oct. 7". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  29. ^ https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-passes-preliminary-reading-of-bill-banning-denial-of-october-7-massacre/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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