Antisemitic conspiracies spread immediately after Flydubai attack

The researchers said the posts represented an inversion in which the Israelis endangered aboard the aircraft became the targets of allegations that Israel or Jews had secretly orchestrated the incident.

By JNS

Antisemitic conspiracy theories began circulating on social media just 67 minutes after the first emergency signal from the flydubai flight that was apparently targeted in a terrorist attack on Wednesday, according to a new study by the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center identified 2,963 posts on X during a 12-hour monitoring period that attributed the incident involving Flight FZ1073 to Israel, the Mossad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Zionists, or Jews.

The first such post appeared 67 minutes after the aircraft transmitted its initial emergency distress signal, according to CAM.

Within five hours, researchers had documented 1,000 posts promoting such claims.

The organization collected 4,136 posts containing the phrase “false flag,” of which approximately 72% advanced conspiracy claims blaming Israel or Jews.

In the final two hourly monitoring periods, that proportion rose to 81% and 82%, respectively.

“What’s striking here isn’t just the volume; it’s the speed,” said Oliver Marks, a research associate at CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center.

“Sixty-seven minutes is all it took for the near downing of a commercial airliner by a terrorist pilot to become fodder for antisemitic conspiracy theorists across the globe,” he said.

“It’s clear this isn’t a narrative that forms in response to an incident. Rather, it’s part of a script that already exists, sitting ready for use whenever opportunities arise.”

‘Hidden hand’

The researchers said the posts represented an inversion in which the Israelis endangered aboard the aircraft became the targets of allegations that Israel or Jews had secretly orchestrated the incident.

“The pattern mirrors the influence operations that hostile states, Russia foremost among them, use to destabilize Western societies: sowing social division, exploiting breaking news events, and portraying Israel and Jews as the ‘hidden hand’ behind them,” the study concluded.

CAM said the speed with which the claims proliferated demonstrated how established antisemitic tropes can be applied to breaking news before the facts of an incident are known.

The organization said such narratives can erase victims’ suffering, redirect blame, and reinforce longstanding conspiracy theories portraying Jews as secretly manipulating world events.

Flight FZ1073 was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Capt. Smit Machchhar and apparently attempted to crash the Boeing 737.

Despite being seriously wounded, Machchhar reportedly managed to open the cockpit door, enabling passengers to overpower the alleged attacker.

Two additional flydubai pilots traveling aboard the aircraft subsequently took control and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Israeli authorities were participating in the investigation into the incident, whose motive remained under investigation.