- Mar 22, 2004
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Anti-Israel conspiracies overflow along the Nile
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
CAIRO
Not so long ago, cabbies here refused to wear seat belts because the plastic buckle, produced by the Mossad, would make them sterile. Or so they had heard.
Now this city of 20 million is awash in a fresh conspiracy theory: Israel engineered the Taba bombings ? in which 34 people were killed, 12 of them Israelis ? in order to tighten security relations with Egypt and to deflect attention from its incursion into the Gaza Strip.
The conspiracy theories ? some Egyptians are also saying that Israel held 1,500 of its citizens at the Taba border crossing to spare them ? will likely block any revival of Egyptian-Israeli relations, say Western diplomats.
While not officially sanctioned, the theories appeared in the Arab world's largest daily, the government-operated Al-Ahram, among others. "I don't accuse Israel because I don't like it, but because the facts prove it," said Dia Rashwan, deputy director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, and an expert on Islamic radicalism.
In appearances on Al-Jazeera and in his own column, Rashwan methodically built a case for Israel's complicity in the bombings. "This is not the first time to see Israelis die by the hands of Israelis," he explained Monday, rattling off a list of terrorist attacks from Argentina to Taba "planned or facilitated" by Israel.
"Al-Qaida does franchise [its terrorist operations]," he said, "but not in this case." Jerusalem's quick announcement of al-Qaida involvement pointed to its intentions. That Beduin were outsourced to buy the explosives; the very proximity of Taba to Israel and the number of Israeli "agents" in Sinai; the sophistication of the explosives; and Israel's almost immediate absolving of the Palestinians of blame are all clear indications that Israel was at fault.
After all, noted Rashwan, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon phoned President Hosni Mubarak to thank him for Egypt's cooperation even as Israeli rescue workers howled that ambulances with dying passengers aboard were held up at the border.
"This is highly unusual, no?" he asked.
This particular conspiracy theory is one of the few patches of common ground between government-run newspapers and government opponents like Dr. Abdel Monem Abu Fattuh, the heir-apparent of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Fattuh, president of the 160,000-member Arab Medical Union, attributes the attacks to "extremist Zionist groups," perpetrating them to divert attention from Israel's incursion into Gaza, or to scuttle Sharon's determination to pull out of Gaza.
The conspiracy theories are not just about hating Israel, but about concern of Egypt entering a club of Arab states friendly to the West and targeted by jihadists, say people like Rashwan. "The goal is to drag Egypt into war on terror... in which Egypt would make itself a target."
Still Egyptian analysts do not see much change coming. Dr. Muhammad el-Sayed Said, call Egypt a "pharaonic society," stultified by "heavy bureaucracy... the people accept nothing less than total bureaucratic subservience." He felt Egyptians would shrug off the attack and that little would change as a result.
Still, some papers, like the mass circulation daily Al-Akhbar, called for their country to "admit that laxity [in security] aided the operation's success... [the bombings] should be a lesson to take continuous precautions and be on the alert to prevent its repetition."
Dr. Hisham Kassem, president of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, noted that "for years it has been futile to reject such conspiracy theories which dominate state-controlled media." While he sees increasing governmental tolerance of dissenting theories, "for decades it was the easiest thing to do. It conveniently detracted from more important issues like adequate security measures and our ability to defend tourists in that area."
cooperate in the realm of security. Yet Israeli and Egyptian officials here doubt that the perpetrators will ever be apprehended.
Officially, Israel is "very concerned" by the proliferation of conspiracy theories. Yet it has few channels with which to register its pique.
Egypt recalled its ambassador in April 2002 as Israel plunged into West Bank cities with the aim of destroying terrorist cells.
Even the journalists' union has banned its members from speaking with any Israeli official or dignitary. Recently an Egyptian reporter was fired for interviewing an Israeli documentary filmmaker on the subject of her film. His crime was "normalizing relations with Israel."
Or as one Western diplomat put it, "When you have a difficulty explaining the reality on the ground, Israel is the first to be blamed."
I guess the Mossad has been working overtime. Heh heh. :roll:
Anti-Israel conspiracies overflow along the Nile
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
CAIRO
Not so long ago, cabbies here refused to wear seat belts because the plastic buckle, produced by the Mossad, would make them sterile. Or so they had heard.
Now this city of 20 million is awash in a fresh conspiracy theory: Israel engineered the Taba bombings ? in which 34 people were killed, 12 of them Israelis ? in order to tighten security relations with Egypt and to deflect attention from its incursion into the Gaza Strip.
The conspiracy theories ? some Egyptians are also saying that Israel held 1,500 of its citizens at the Taba border crossing to spare them ? will likely block any revival of Egyptian-Israeli relations, say Western diplomats.
While not officially sanctioned, the theories appeared in the Arab world's largest daily, the government-operated Al-Ahram, among others. "I don't accuse Israel because I don't like it, but because the facts prove it," said Dia Rashwan, deputy director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, and an expert on Islamic radicalism.
In appearances on Al-Jazeera and in his own column, Rashwan methodically built a case for Israel's complicity in the bombings. "This is not the first time to see Israelis die by the hands of Israelis," he explained Monday, rattling off a list of terrorist attacks from Argentina to Taba "planned or facilitated" by Israel.
"Al-Qaida does franchise [its terrorist operations]," he said, "but not in this case." Jerusalem's quick announcement of al-Qaida involvement pointed to its intentions. That Beduin were outsourced to buy the explosives; the very proximity of Taba to Israel and the number of Israeli "agents" in Sinai; the sophistication of the explosives; and Israel's almost immediate absolving of the Palestinians of blame are all clear indications that Israel was at fault.
After all, noted Rashwan, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon phoned President Hosni Mubarak to thank him for Egypt's cooperation even as Israeli rescue workers howled that ambulances with dying passengers aboard were held up at the border.
"This is highly unusual, no?" he asked.
This particular conspiracy theory is one of the few patches of common ground between government-run newspapers and government opponents like Dr. Abdel Monem Abu Fattuh, the heir-apparent of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Fattuh, president of the 160,000-member Arab Medical Union, attributes the attacks to "extremist Zionist groups," perpetrating them to divert attention from Israel's incursion into Gaza, or to scuttle Sharon's determination to pull out of Gaza.
The conspiracy theories are not just about hating Israel, but about concern of Egypt entering a club of Arab states friendly to the West and targeted by jihadists, say people like Rashwan. "The goal is to drag Egypt into war on terror... in which Egypt would make itself a target."
Still Egyptian analysts do not see much change coming. Dr. Muhammad el-Sayed Said, call Egypt a "pharaonic society," stultified by "heavy bureaucracy... the people accept nothing less than total bureaucratic subservience." He felt Egyptians would shrug off the attack and that little would change as a result.
Still, some papers, like the mass circulation daily Al-Akhbar, called for their country to "admit that laxity [in security] aided the operation's success... [the bombings] should be a lesson to take continuous precautions and be on the alert to prevent its repetition."
Dr. Hisham Kassem, president of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, noted that "for years it has been futile to reject such conspiracy theories which dominate state-controlled media." While he sees increasing governmental tolerance of dissenting theories, "for decades it was the easiest thing to do. It conveniently detracted from more important issues like adequate security measures and our ability to defend tourists in that area."
cooperate in the realm of security. Yet Israeli and Egyptian officials here doubt that the perpetrators will ever be apprehended.
Officially, Israel is "very concerned" by the proliferation of conspiracy theories. Yet it has few channels with which to register its pique.
Egypt recalled its ambassador in April 2002 as Israel plunged into West Bank cities with the aim of destroying terrorist cells.
Even the journalists' union has banned its members from speaking with any Israeli official or dignitary. Recently an Egyptian reporter was fired for interviewing an Israeli documentary filmmaker on the subject of her film. His crime was "normalizing relations with Israel."
Or as one Western diplomat put it, "When you have a difficulty explaining the reality on the ground, Israel is the first to be blamed."
I guess the Mossad has been working overtime. Heh heh. :roll:
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