: the use of public Jewish figures to spread antisemitic ideas about Jews as an overall group
WHY IT’S ANTISEMITIC:
Much like the age-old theme of blaming Jews for disasters
across the world (see scapegoat), prominent Jewish figures
are often the victim of antisemitic rhetoric that’s actually
being pointed at all Jews.
A post connecting the Rothschild family and their alleged greed with the weather.
By focusing attacks on a single person, antisemites create a
coded language in which that person’s name or face becomes
synonymous with dangerous antisemitic conspiracies or
tropes. These can include everything from a Jewish plan for
world domination to a Jewish puppet master who manipulates
international events and creates social conflict for his own gain.
Modern examples of this include rumors that George
Soros — a Hungarian-American of Jewish descent and wellknown
billionaire — is paying members of a migrant “caravan” to march on U.S. borders (see Soros). Or when Harvey
Weinstein’s history of sexual abuse is somehow linked to his
Jewish identity, spreading the antisemitic trope of “Jewish
sexual perversion.”
The Rothschilds, another prominent Jewish family, have even
been blamed for bad weather, natural disasters, and creating
“the concept of climate change” (see Rothschild).