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The Antisemitic History of the Red Hand
The image of a red hand has recently gained popularity as a symbol of “ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas conflict. However, this is a gross misappropriation. The “red hand” has a decades-old violent meaning for Jews in the Middle East. It signifies the bloody history of pogroms and the slaughter of Jews.
The Farhud
On June 1-2, 1941, on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, a pogrom was carried out against the Jewish community of Baghdad, Iraq. This pogrom is known as the Farhud, which means “forced dispossession.”
Before the pogrom, red hands were painted on Jewish houses. The rioters, who carried knives and swords, looted Jewish houses, burned them, and then proceeded to kill, torture and mutilate Jews.
The Farhud occurred right after the defeat of Iraq’s pro-Nazi government which had been formed by Rashid Ali al-Kailani and the British. It was inspired by Nazi propaganda broadcasted throughout Iraq.
The pogrom lasted for two days. Some sources say 180 Jews were killed and 240 wounded, with 99 Jewish homes destroyed and 586 Jewish-owned businesses looted. Other sources estimate the numbers much higher.
Second Intifada
During the Second Intifada, the red hand once again signaled the slaughter of Jews, when a picture of a Palestinian jubilantly holding up his blood-stained hands after killing two Israelis circulated the world.
On October 12, 2000, two Israelis, who were reservist drivers in the Israel Defense Forces, were driving a civilian vehicle and took a wrong turn into the Palestinian city of Ramallah, just minutes from Jerusalem.
They were promptly arrested by Palestinian police and taken to a police station. A lynch mob broke into the station, beat and stabbed the men, gouged out their eyes and disemboweled them. After their heinous crime, one of the murderers went to the window and held up his two bloodstained hands to a cheering crowd below. The Israelis’ bodies were then thrown out the window, where they were further beaten by the crowd and then set on fire.
Vadim Nurzhitz and Yosef Avrahami were IDF reservist drivers who were murdered in 2000 by a lynch mob in Ramallah.
The crowd then dragged the mutilated bodies to the city center to celebrate.
