When the Black Death swept through Europe in the mid-14th century, Jews suffered not only from the disease itself but also from violent outbursts of anti-Semitism at the hands of Christian neighbors, who accused them of spreading it by, among other means, poisoning the wells. Ira Stoll points to signs that the coronavirus is having a similar effect:
The actress Rosanna Arquette claimed, falsely, that Israel has been working on a coronavirus vaccine “for a year already,” indicating advance knowledge of the virus, and that a Jewish-run company is poised to profit from it. [She later partially retracted the statement]. A speaker from the 2016 Republican National Convention, David Clarke, blames Jewish-born billionaire George Soros for the virus and associated panic. The head of a Turkish political party, Faitih Erbakan, declared, “this virus serves Zionism’s goals.”
More about: Anti-Semitism, Coronavirus, Jewish history