TEL AVIV – CyberWell, a nonprofit and trusted partner of Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads), TikTok and YouTube working to combat online antisemitism, alerted platforms on the use of the phrase “son of a Jew” as a recurring antisemitic slur across Arabic-language social media platforms, where it is used to negatively frame Jewish identity and weaponize its meaning as a marker of betrayal, corruption, cowardice and moral inferiority.
CyberWell’s research examines how the term “Jew” and phrase “son of a Jew” function within Arabic online discourse not as neutral terms but as derogatory expressions embedded in a broader pattern of dehumanization. The slur is often directed towards non-Jews, particularly political opponents, public figures and individuals perceived as supporting Jews or Israel to imply that these individuals exhibit inherently “Jewish” traits, such as greed or corruption. By transforming “Jew” into a synonym for something contemptible, the rhetoric reinforces antisemitic stereotypes while normalizing hostility toward both Jews and their allies. A significant percent of the analyzed posts directly called for violence.
Enforcement varied significantly across platforms. TikTok recorded the highest removal rate at 80 percent, broadly consistent with its 88.8 percent removal rate for antisemitic content documented in CyberWell’s 2025 Annual Report. Meta demonstrated a 59 percent removal rate within the dataset and removed 100 percent of content containing explicit violent rhetoric. X showed the largest enforcement gap, with a 0 percent removal rate compared to 29.5 percent in CyberWell’s prior reporting and only 15 percent of posts receiving visibility restrictions.
The use of Jewish identity as an insult in Arabic discourse long predates social media, reflecting entrenched antisemitic stereotypes that portray Jews as deceitful, corrupt, or inherently suspect. As social media use expanded across the Arab-speaking world and antisemitic rhetoric became more visible online, these forms of identity-based abuse increasingly appeared on digital platforms. CyberWell identified documented online examples dating back to 2014 in which Jewish identity was explicitly weaponized as a form of verbal abuse.
A related but distinct trend concerns the phrase “son of a Jew.” The phrase gained significant visibility during the 2014 Gaza war when Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida used it as an insult in a public statement. Following this high-profile use, the phrase spread widely in online discourse and was subsequently adopted beyond its original context as a recurring form of antisemitic abuse. Continued presence of this content online more than a decade later demonstrates that the phrase has persisted beyond a single moment and remains an enduring feature of online antisemitic Arabic discourse.
CyberWell identified three dominant areas of use of the phrase, “son of a Jew.” The first involved direct insults in which “son of a Jew” was used to portray Jewish identity as inherently shameful or inferior. In some cases, the phrase appeared alongside hostile imagery and content targeting Jewish individuals and symbols. The second involved the repetition of the slogan attributed to Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida: “You threaten us with what we await, you son of a Jew.” The phrase continues to circulate widely online, often detached from its original context and repurposed as a generalized insult. The third use embeds the slur within boycott advocacy. Rather than criticizing policies, governments or companies, users directed the phrase at individuals who did not participate in boycott campaigns. This allowed antisemitic language to circulate under the framing of political activism while reinforcing hostility toward Jews and those perceived as supporting them.
“The significance of this trend is not simply that people are using an offensive phrase,” said CyberWell Founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor. “The phrase works because it treats Jewish identity itself as an insult. Whether directed at Jews, political rivals or people perceived as supporting Jews, the message is the same: being associated with Jews is something shameful, corrupt or worthy of contempt. That is how antisemitism becomes normalized within everyday language and digital culture.”
“Identity-based slurs become more difficult to address when they are embedded within political discourse, social movements and online slang. As such language becomes normalized, it spreads more widely while avoiding detection by moderation systems that focus primarily on explicit hate speech,” she added.
The platform alerts included recommendations addressing these trends and providing stronger solutions for Arabic-language moderation, greater investment in regional linguistic expertise and deeper partnerships between technology platforms and organizations specializing in online hate.
“This is precisely why contextual expertise matters,” added Cohen Montemayor. “Many of these posts do not contain explicit threats or universally recognized slurs. Without organizations that understand regional language, cultural references and evolving hate narratives, harmful content can remain online for years undetected and become embedded into digital and real-world culture. Effective moderation requires more than technology alone. It requires sustained partnerships between platforms and organizations working on the front lines of combating online hate. The most effective interventions occur when platforms combine enforcement capabilities with the linguistic, cultural and subject-matter expertise needed to identify emerging threats before they become normalized.”
CyberWell is an independent, tech-based nonprofit combating the spread of antisemitism online, operating globally. Its AI-technologies monitor social media in English and Arabic for posts that promulgate antisemitism, Holocaust denial and promote violence against Jews and their allies based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Its analysts review and report this content to platform moderators while indexing all verified posts in the first-ever open database of antisemitic social media posts, cataloging it openly for transparency at app.cyberwell.org. Through partnerships, education and real-time alerts, CyberWell partners with social media platforms and digital service companies to help them enforce their policies more effectively, promoting proactive steps against online Jew-hate. For more information, visit: https://cyberwell.org/.
