Beijing: Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing has turned to China's social media platform, Weibo, to engage with the public. However, the initiative seems to be provoking a backlash, with comments on the account expressing strong anti-Israel sentiments, support for Hamas, and even praise for Adolf Hitler, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

The Israeli Embassy's Weibo account, which boasts 24 million followers, has posted nearly 100 updates since the October 7 attack. Some of these posts are disturbing, including an image of a baby victim of the attack, while others highlight Israeli resilience, such as a story about a survivor who helped fellow music fans during the attack.

Unfortunately, the comment sections have been inundated with hate speech, such as "Heroic Hamas, good job!" and disturbing references to Hitler, like, "Hitler was wise". Some users even changed their avatars to feature the Israeli flag with a Nazi swastika in the centre.

While occasional voices express support for Israel and criticise Hamas as a terrorist organisation, they often face strong backlash from others, with comments like "Only dead Israelis are good Israelis" and "the United States supports Israel, and the friend of the enemy is the enemy," according to VOA.

Similar content has proliferated on various online platforms across China's heavily censored internet.

VOA Mandarin was unable to determine how many of the Weibo accounts posting these comments might have connections to the Chinese government.

The Israeli Embassy in China did not respond to interview requests from VOA Mandarin.

Eric Liu, a former Weibo moderator who now serves as an editor for China Digital Times, suggested that the embassy has "has received more comments recently, which are very straightforwardly hateful, with anti-Semitic content. They probably have taken the initiative to contain it."

He believes that the presence of these comments on the platform indicates a level of comfort with such sentiments from the Chinese government, which has traditionally supported the Palestinian cause but has recently sought closer ties with Israel for trade, technology, and diplomatic reasons.

Liu further explained, "It's more of a voice influenced by public opinion. Relatively speaking, it is an extreme voice. Moderate voices cannot be heard. Most of the participants are habitual offenders who hate others. But they are also spontaneous, or rather, they are spontaneous under the guidance of government censors."

Gu Guoping, a retired teacher and human rights citizen-journalist in Shanghai, expressed his dismay with these online platforms, describing them as "anti-human brainwashing platforms controlled by the Chinese Communist Party." Gu emphasised that many users do not have a proper understanding of Israel and its people, and that Israel's actions are seen as legitimate self-defence following attacks by Hamas, as reported by VOA.

Liu noted that Weibo moderators usually remove hateful comments targeting foreign embassies in China, but their actions may be influenced by instructions from Chinese government authorities, leading to different standards being applied. "The government's opinion has been very, very clear, which is why the online public opinion has such an obvious tendency," he said. "It must be the all-round propaganda machine that led the public opinion to be like this."

The spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, called for de-escalation and a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict but did not specifically condemn Hamas. "China is closely following the current tensions between Palestine and Israel. We believe that the pressing priority is to promote de-escalation, enable cease-fire and cessation of violence, protect civilians and avert a humanitarian disaster. In dealing with international and regional hotspot issues, China has always been objective and just and exercised calm and restraint."

Some observers have suggested that China is leveraging the Israel-Hamas conflict to reduce US influence.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on Saturday, condemned Israel for going "beyond the scope of self-defence" and called for it to "cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza."

In response to the Iranian Embassy in China's comments, Chinese netizens posted their support, while US President Joe Biden and Israel have offered different accounts of an explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.

Chinese netizens have also targeted the Weibo accounts of other foreign embassies and diplomats that expressed support for Israel. When the Swiss ambassador to China, Jurg Burri, extended condolences for victims of "terrorist attacks in Gaza," he was criticised for "pseudo-neutrality."

Liu believes that the sentiments expressed by Chinese netizens may change in the future. "It's not like that they stand with Palestine," he said. "Maybe they will hate Palestine tomorrow because they believe in Islam. [The posters] are talking in general terms and do not care about the life and death of Palestine. Hatred of Israelis and Jews is the core," Voice of America reported.