A/75/329 right activists discussing online getting infected, either deliberately or accidentally, and going to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to try to infect as many Jewish people as possible. 17 60. A study in the United Kingdom found that conspiracy theories constituted a sizeable part of the discourse on the COVID-19 virus. 18 To different degrees, 45.4 per cent believed that China was responsible for the virus, while 19.1 per cent believed that Jews were behind it, and 19.9 per cent believed that Muslims were spreading it. The study also shows that such theories are voiced not only on the fringes of society, and that social media serves as a platform to disseminate such opinions. 19 In the United States, the Center for Public Integrity found that one third of survey respondents reported having witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the COVID-19 epidemic. Compared to white respondents (27 per cent), significantly more Asians (60 per cent), Hispanics (48 per cent) and African Americans (43 per cent) had witnessed someone blaming Asian people. While the majority of Americans say the COVID-19 pandemic is a natural disaster, the Center for Public Integrity found that about 3 in 10 Americans blamed China or Chinese people for it. 20 61. Like antisemitism, anti-Asian racism, particularly anti-Chinese racism, associated with fear of disease has a long history in Canada and the United States. Both countries have a legacy of institutionalized racism (e.g. the “yellow peril” label), and politicians and the general public continue to perpetuate the connection of race and disease. In a joint submission for the present report, the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice noted that an April 2020 poll in three major cities confirmed the prevailing perception that Chinese and/or Asian Canadians were the carriers of COVID-19. Fourteen per cent of respondents either believed that all Chinese or Asian people carried the coronavirus (4 per cent) or were uncertain whether that was true (10 per cen t). Fifteen percent were aware of racist incidents in their neighbourhood since the pandemic began. 21 62. Human Rights Watch reported that a nationwide survey in Australia focusing on COVID-19-related racism against Asians and Asian Australians had documented 178 incidents during the first two weeks of April 2020. The survey, by the community group Asian Australian Alliance, received about 12 reports a day between the beginning of April and at least mid-May (the date of the Human Rights Watch report) on incidents ranging from racial slurs to physical assault. The majority of racist incidents reported – 62 per cent – were against women. 22 63. The Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice reported a number of disturbing examples. In January 2020, a video of a woman eating a bat with chopsticks in a restaurant in Micronesia, shot in 2016 as part of a travel segment, went viral in Canada. The racist rhetoric attributed COVID-19 to “dirty” eating habits, vilifying Chinese people for the transfer of the virus from animals to humans. In addition, three Buddhist temples __________________ 17 18 19 20 21 22 20-11206 Community Security Trust, “Coronavirus and the plague of antisemitism”, p. 9. University of Oxford news and events, “Conspiracy beliefs reduce the following of government coronavirus guidance”, 22 May 2020. Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, “Coronavirus antisemitism briefing No. 5”, 28 May 2020, executive summary, citing University of Oxford news and events, “Conspiracy beliefs reduce the following of government coronavirus guidance”, 22 May 2020. “New Center for Public Integrity/Ipsos poll finds most Americans say the coronavirus pandemic is a natural disaster,” 28 April 2020. Joint submission by the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. Human Rights Watch, “COVID-19 fueling anti-Asian racism and xenophobia worldwide”, 12 May 2020. 13/23