Antisemitic 9/11 Myths Still Circulating

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were murdered in the deadliest terrorist attack in American history. The images of planes striking the Twin Towers and the collapse of the World Trade Center seared themselves into collective memory. Yet almost immediately, conspiracy theories emerged to twist the tragedy into something else entirely. Antisemitic narratives falsely claiming Jewish or Israeli involvement spread quickly, recycling old tropes in new forms and adding fuel to the wider ecosystem of online hate that thrives on scapegoating and distortion. These narratives were rooted in older antisemitic tropes (e.g. Jews control governments, finance, or media; Jews are disloyal; Israel manipulates world events). Here are the main ones:

1. “4,000 Jews didn’t show up to work” myth

Claim: About 4,000 Jewish employees were warned in advance not to go to work at the World Trade Center.

Reality: Completely false. Hundreds of Jewish people were among the victims (270). This rumor originated in Hezbollah’s TV channel al-Manar and was quickly picked up by other antisemitic and anti-Israel sources.

Conspiracy logic: Suggests Jews or Israel orchestrated the attacks and “saved their own.”

2. “Mossad / Israel did 9/11” theory

Claim: Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, planned or executed the attacks to drag the U.S. into wars in the Middle East that would benefit Israel.

Reality: No evidence supports this; the perpetrators were Al-Qaeda.

Conspiracy logic: Builds on the trope that Israel manipulates U.S. foreign policy and uses deception to push wars.

3. “Dancing Israelis” story

Claim: A group of Israeli men were seen celebrating and filming the attacks, supposedly proving foreknowledge.

Reality: Five Israeli nationals working for a moving company were detained after being seen filming the attacks. They were investigated by the FBI and released. No evidence of Israeli involvement was ever found.

Conspiracy logic: Frames Israelis (and therefore Jews broadly) as secretly behind global tragedies.

4. “Jews controlled the media cover-up”

Claim: Jewish-owned media suppressed the “truth” about who really carried out 9/11.

Reality: Mainstream outlets reported based on investigations confirming Al-Qaeda’s responsibility.

Conspiracy logic: Echoes the antisemitic idea of “Jewish media control” used to deny or distort facts.

5. “Financial profiteering by Jews”

Claim: Jewish investors, such as Larry Silverstein (the Jewish leaseholder of the World Trade Center), profited through insurance payouts and stock manipulation tied to 9/11.

Reality: Insurance litigation dragged on for years, with no evidence of insider knowledge.

Conspiracy logic: Revives the stereotype of Jews orchestrating tragedies for financial gain.

Common Hashtags:

We have compiled a list of the most common Hashtags that lead to social media conspiracy theories regarding the involvement of Jews in the 9/11 attacks.

They could be summed up as basically these ones:

• #JewsDid911
• #911WasDoneByTheJews
• #MossadDid911
• #IsraelDid911
• #IsraelBehind911
• #ZionistsDid911

With the joint use of other more general conspiracy theory hashtags such as:

• #911Truth
• #InsideJob
• #911InsideJob
• #911Hoax
• #911WasAnInsideJob

We scanned the main social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X, TickTock etc) to verify which of these are still in use and still accepted. Unfortunately most still are, with the odd exception like JewsDid911 banned on X, or #911WasDoneByTheJews that is banned on Facebook. TikTok has banned another couple (#ZionistsDid911 and the more generalized #911InsideJob).

Two decades after the tragic event, the persistence of these lies proves, once again, that antisemitic conspiracies are never confined to the past. They mutate, resurface, and find new audiences online. The myths about Jews and 9/11 continue to spread and grow across social media, often disguised as “truth-seeking” but serving the same purpose: to scapegoat Jews for global crises. Naming and dismantling these falsehoods is not just about setting the historical record straight – it is about recognizing how antisemitism adapts and ensuring it cannot take root unchallenged.