The sight of tens of thousands of would-be immigrants storming into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta last week was an arresting image. A huge flow of migrants, juxtaposed with the apparent impotence of the authorities tasked with defending their borders, strikingly represented the challenge that mass immigration poses to Europe.
At least, that is how it looked on the surface; but some observers thought they detected the hidden hand of Zionism behind those shocking scenes. Hollywood actor Javier Bardem took to social media to suggest that, one way or another, ‘Israel and the far right’ was ‘punishing’ Spain for calling the conflict in Gaza a genocide. ‘Ceuta: Did Israel and US engineer the crisis?,’ asked Owen Jones breathlessly, before admitting he had no proof that they did – but it ‘surely demands explanation’.
It’s the kind of reasoning that some people have always reached for to provide order and purpose, and to assign blame for unwelcome, chaotic events. When something bad happens, there must be a bunch of Jews – in one form or another – pulling the strings. Israel is just the latest label to be slapped onto this particular conspiracy theory. But whereas in the past, this kind of nonsense was limited to fascist agitators, Islamist demagogues and conspiracy cranks, now it is embraced by a much wider and more influential audience.
