This episode examines the sudden appearance of the “Blue Square” campaign in May 2021 and treats it as a forensic investigation into how a simple visual symbol reshaped the global conversation. As Israeli courts advanced evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed large numbers of Palestinians, international attention briefly centered on the humanitarian crisis. Within days, however, a coordinated wave of blue-square posts began flooding social media, urging users to “stand up to Jewish hate.”

Through a close reconstruction of timelines, posts, and media coverage, the episode argues that the campaign operated as a strategic redirection. It shifted the narrative away from Palestinian suffering and toward an alarmist story of a supposed explosion in antisemitism—anchored by fear-driven anecdotes and the widely circulated but poorly contextualized “600 percent increase” statistic. The episode shows how ambiguous incident tallies, viral clips of isolated assaults, and emotionally charged messaging were positioned to reframe Jews as the primary victims at a moment when the world was witnessing intense Israeli military violence.

Tracing how the blue square was later formalized into an institutional public-relations machine, the episode presents it as a modern case of digital hasbara: a coordinated effort that weaponized Jewish vulnerability to deflect accountability and recast the terms of public debate.