On January 9-10, 2024, a Georgian-speaking Facebook user disseminated the claim (1;2) that the police discovered a secret tunnel in the New York synagogue, from which bloody mattresses and baby hammockს were retrieved. The author of the posts suggests that the purpose of the tunnels was to traffic minors, abuse them and conduct “Talmudic-Satanic sacrifices and rituals”. According to the claim, the tunnels are connected to the nearby children’s museum.
A Russian-speaking Facebook user also linked the discovered tunnel with the murder of minors and rituals.
The mentioned claim is being disseminated without evidence. Claims that the tunnels were used to abuse and sell children are unproven and fuel an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. In addition, the information that the discovered tunnels are connected to the local children’s museum is not true.
On January 8, 2024, the New York City Police discovered an illegal tunnel connected to a historic Brooklyn synagogue. The police were called after it was suspected that the historic building was at risk due to the tunnels. As Motti Seligson, the spokesperson of the Hasidic Jewish organization “Chabad-Lubavitch”, writes, the police were informed about the threat of vandalism and destruction of the building. Some of the members of “Chabad-Lubavitch” confronted the law enforcement officers who arrived on the spot, the law enforcement officers arrested 9 people.
As it turned out, the young people, whom Motti Seligson calls “extremist students”, have “secretly broken through the walls of vacant building behind the headquarters, creating an underground passage beneath a row of office buildings and lecture halls that eventually connected to the synagogue.”
The reason for the construction of the tunnel is currently unknown, however, there are versions. The building was once home to the Orthodox Jewish movement’s leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and draws thousands of visitors each year. Schneerson led Chabad-Lubavitch until his death in 1994 and contributed greatly to its revival after the Holocaust. As the BBC writes, the tunnels are probably related to the conflict within Chabad-Lubavitch. A certain part believes that Schneerson is the Messiah of the Jews – this opinion is rejected by the main movement of “Chabad-Lubavitch”. There was also a debate within the organization about whether or not Schneerson should be listed as dead on the plaques on the Shannons, as some members believe he never actually died. As locals told the New York Times, the purpose of digging the tunnel was to speed up the synagogue’s expansion, which some members say is the rabbi’s wish.
After the discovery of the tunnel, conspiracy theories about the reason for its creation spread on social networks. In fact, there is no evidence that the tunnels were created to traffic or abuse children. In response to questions about the alleged crimes, the New York City Police Department sent AP News a list of the charges for which nine people were arrested. It should be noted that the charges relate to confrontation with the police, damage caused, and negligence, they do not include sexual crimes or the sale of children and are not related to the actions carried out inside the tunnels.
The claim that the illegal tunnel is connected to the Children’s Museum is also false. The user publishes a photo showing the Jewish Children’s Museum, with its address listed as 302 Kingston Ave. It should be noted that the museum is located on the opposite side of the street, and the tunnels, according to the available data, were not laid under the road, but under the buildings and were used to connect them.
The claims are linked to the conspiracy theories that have been circulating for years about the crimes and “sacrifices” committed by the Jews against children. The mentioned assertions, which are aimed at inciting anti-Semitism, were debunked by “Myth Detector” a number of times in the past.
About the Source
Lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili often publishes posts with anti-Western, anti-Ukrainian, and anti-opposition content. Since the emergence of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, the user has been spreading disinformation regularly. False information spread by Zakareishvili has been debunked by “Myth Detector” many times in the past.
Facebook user Elizabeth Чайка mainly publishes anti-vax content. Some of the user’s posts have been flagged as false information.
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