Lunatic Conspiracy Theories
Permeate Syrian Media
New York – The Syrian government controlled daily Al-Thawra published an article by columnist Abd Al-Rahman Ghunaym suggesting that Israel created the avian flu virus in order to damage “genes carried only by Arabs” (January 31). The article speculates that Israel may have planted the virus in East Asia in order to mislead the world about its intentions to harm Arabs, which is why the disease first appeared there, not in the Middle East. Another possibility given is that the virus was created to attack “the yellow race — especially in China and Vietnam” which are “rising powers” threatening “American hegemony over the world” (MEMRI, February 16).
Excerpts from the article:
- “The question that arises today is whether the virus chosen by the Zionists for their ‘Israeli race bomb’ is the avian flu virus. Some might hasten to object by saying: ‘But this virus first appeared, in 2003, only in east and southeast Asia, and spread to Asia Minor [i.e., Turkey] only in 2006!’ This is a correct observation, but it does not rule out [the possibility that Israel first spread the virus] in that remote region out of several motivations … [Israel wished to] test the effects of the virus on the special genes of the yellow Asian race, which is highly specialized. In addition, the yellow race – especially in China and Vietnam – is a rising power [which threatens] the exclusive American hegemony over the world.
- “We cannot refrain from mentioning that the AIDS virus was developed to serve as a ‘race bomb’ against the blacks, though after its release, it also [infected] white people, albeit in smaller numbers.”
- “…the [manner in which] the virus spread directly from east to west Asia (i.e., to Asia Minor) raises many questions. Firstly, birds do not migrate from east to west Asia, but from the northern [regions] of the world to the southern [regions] … Therefore, we are led to the inescapable [conclusion] that there must have been a northern point of origin from which the virus spread, or in which it was planted, at a time which corresponded with the southbound migration of the birds. This point of origin may have been on the northern [shore] of the Black Sea or in east Turkey…”
- “The suspicion regarding a link between the avian flu and Israel’s ‘race bomb’ is compounded by a report from the Palestinian Authority, regarding 85,000 good chickens that were buried [by Israel] in fields in the West Bank, and by the fact that the Palestinian Authority was not allowed to take samples from these chickens for testing. [Another telling fact] is what happened later – the case of a young Arab from one of the villages around Jerusalem [who caught the disease].”
- “Tampering with Arab genes [without affecting] the white race is very difficult. But the Zionists are capable of attempting this [risky] adventure if [they have] a preventive treatment or a [cure for the disease]. Recall that the assassination of Yasser Arafat was carried out by means of biological weapons. The attempt on the life of the fighter [Hamas leader] Khaled Mash’al [likewise] involved a biological [agent] which [is countered by] a secret antidote that only the Zionists possess.”
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “Syria has been a leading promoter of sick conspiracy theories regarding Jews, Judaism and Israel and also the US and this recent article in the Damascus government controlled newspaper shows that nothing has changed for the better in Syria, despite the international pressure that led it to withdraw its forces from Lebanon last year.
“We see here a regime that not only doesn’t make peace with Israel, assists terrorists killing US servicemen in Iraq, orders assassinations in Lebanon and flouts international investigations but also does its best to keep hatred, suspicion and aggression alive in the hearts of its people. In this context, it should be remembered that the Syrian Defense Minister, Mustafa Tlas, is the author of a book affirming the ancient libel that Jews murder gentile children to use their blood in the making of Passover matzah. Such foul and evil ideas are published in the West only by far-right hate groups, not by respectable publishers, let alone government ministers.
“It is evident that even now when Syria is the focus of unprecedented world attention for its brutal and manipulative role in Lebanon and being on the wrong side in the war on terror, insufficient attention is paid to Syria’s promotion of hateful anti-Jewish conspiracy theories which in this case is also clearly anti-American hate speech. The ZOA calls on the Bush Administration to make Syria’s official promotion of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism a priority item in its dealings with this brutal regime.”