The unveiling of Bernard Madoff’s giant ponzi scheme, that is estimated to be around $50billion, has opened the floodgates to anti-semitism on the Internet, according to Anti-Defamation League. Madoff, is a Jew and a prominent member of the powerful Jewish community in the US.
According to Abraham Foxman, national director of ADL:
Site users have posted comments ranging from deeply offensive stereotypical statements about Jews and money — with some suggesting that only Jews could perpetrate a fraud on such a scale — to conspiracy theories about Jews stealing money to benefit Israel.
Jews are always a convenient scapegoat in times of crisis, but the Madoff scandal and the fact that so many of the defrauded investors are Jewish has created a perfect storm for the anti-Semites.
Nowadays, the first place Jew-haters will go is to the Internet, where they can give voice to their hateful ideas without fear of repercussions.
