Secret underground Synagogue tunnels in NY spark wave of antisemitic memes and conspiracies

The discovery of underground tunnels beneath the world headquarters for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in New York has led to a rise in antisemitic misinformation on social media.

Passageways underneath 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn were recently uncovered, leading to chaotic scenes. Attempts were made to fill in the gaps between two adjoining buildings underground which had been knocked down by yeshiva students, which led to a brawl between students and police.

It was reported in local press site Crown Heights Info that 10 men were arrested on Monday (January 8) after a cement truck was brought in to fill in the tunnels.

Law enforcement officials clashed with students, with footage showing an Orthodox man being pulled from a passageway and being arrested.

Chabad spokespokesperson Rabbi Motti Seligson released a statement on Twitter/X explaining that the events on Monday were a culmination of a long-running dispute over the property.

According to Seligson, the dispute was sparked by what he referred to as a group of "extremist students" who first created the hidden passageways.

He wrote: "Some time ago, a group of extremist students, broke through a few walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue at 784-788 Eastern Parkway, to provide them unauthorized access. Earlier today, a cement truck was brought in to repair those walls. Those efforts were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access.”

Seligson went on to say: “Lubavitch officials have attempted to gain proper control of the premises through the New York State court system; unfortunately, despite consistently prevailing in court, the process has dragged on for years. This is, obviously, deeply distressing to the Lubavitch movement, and the Jewish community worldwide. We hope and pray to be able to expeditiously restore the sanctity and decorum of this holy place.”

As well as causing confusion online, the story has also led to anti-semitic memes and conspiracy theories being circulated on social media.

Stew Peters is a far-right conspiracy theorist who referred to the passageway as “NYC’s Jew tunnel" before making the baseless claim: "There seems to be a correlation between U.S. human trafficking and high Jewish population centers."

Some followers of QAnon baselessly suggested that the tunnels were being used for human trafficking and that they were also being used to transport human meat to a branch of McDonald's.

Andrew Tate's brother, Tristan also posted on X/Twitter, likening the Jewish people to rats because of the story. “I don’t care what your race or religion is… If you scurry around underneath a city in tunnels the world is going to liken you to rats,” Tate wrote. “Defeat stereotypes … don’t build secret rat like tunnel networks under New York.”

While the story is certainly bizarre, the current internet culture that has been amplified on platforms like X/Twitter has only helped embolden antisemites who want to push stereotypes when stories like this emerge.

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