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| In December 2010, ] in Egypt were attributed to a shark released by the ].<ref name=post/><ref name=haaretz/><ref name=BBC/> In January 2011, ]n authorities arrested what they described as a "Zionist" vulture and charged the bird with spying for Israel.<ref name=BBC/> | In December 2010, ] in Egypt were attributed to a shark released by the ].<ref name=post/><ref name=haaretz/><ref name=BBC/> In January 2011, ]n authorities arrested what they described as a "Zionist" vulture and charged the bird with spying for Israel.<ref name=BBC/> | ||
| ==Theories== | |||
| ==Deeper look at some of the theories== | |||
| ===Mossad shark=== | ===Mossad shark=== | ||
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Animal conspiracy theories involving Israel are allegations about Israel's alleged training of animals in order to make them to attack, spread diseases and to spy for Israel. Those conspiracy theories have been circulating in Arab and Muslim media and Arabic language websites.
Overview of the allegations
Israel has also been accused of sending a spy pelican and a spy vulture to Sudan. The birds, wearing a GPS device and a tag with the sign "Tel Aviv University," were captured by local officials. Sudanese authorities refused to return the GPS transmitters, and the birds were accused of espionage for Israel.
In October 2008 Iran arrested two pigeons, who showed unusual interest in Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz. In 2007, Iranian media reported that 14 squirrels were caught spying for the West, and that they were arrested right before they were able to cause real damage.
Israel has also been accused in releasing lethal jellyfish in the waters off Sinai and of infecting mosquitoes with HIV.
Most recently, during latest intifada, Wafa, also known as the Palestine News Agency, issued reports of rats as big as dogs and wild boars that were allegedly released in East Jerusalem by Israel in order to make Palestinians to flee so that Jews could take their homes. The report read: "Rats have become an Israeli weapon to displace and expel Arab residents of the occupied Old City of Jerusalem. Settlers flood the Old City of Jerusalem with rats." In December 2010, shark attacks in Egypt were attributed to a shark released by the Mossad. In January 2011, Saudi Arabian authorities arrested what they described as a "Zionist" vulture and charged the bird with spying for Israel.
Theories
Mossad shark
In December 2010, the governor of South Sinai, Mohammad Abdul Fadhil Shousha, attributed Sharm el-Sheikh shark attacks to Israel. The governor also noted: "What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark in the sea to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question. But it needs time to confirm."
This conspiracy theory started to evolve with an interview that Captain Mustafa Ismail, introduced as "a famous diver in Sharm El Sheikh", gave on TV program Egypt Today. In the interview Ismail claimed that there are no oceanic whitetip sharks in the Red Sea off Egypt. When asked how the sharks got there, Ismail responded: "no, it's who let them in?" He went on to describe his phone conversation with an Israeli diver who told him that they captured an oceanic whitetip off Eilat, an Israeli town also on the Red Sea coast. Ismail became suspicious when the Israeli told him the shark they captured had a GPS navigation device. Although this is a common method of monitoring shark migrations, Ismail offered his own theory of using GPS device on sharks: "the sharks were monitored to attack in Egypt's waters only".
Zionist vulture
A griffon vulture with a wingspan of about 8 feet (2.4 m) was seen flying in Saudi Arabia, near the home of a shaikh, near the city of Hayel. When the bird was captured, a GPS device and a leg tag with the sign "Tel Aviv University" were discovered on the bird. The authorities were alerted that the vulture was a part of "Zionist plot". The story was first reported in Saudi Arabia's newspaper Al-Weeam, and was later discussed in Arabic websites and other Saudi Arabia media outlets.
Israeli officials described the accusation as "ludicrous" and said they were "stunned" and were concerned that the bird could meet a severe punishment in the Saudi justice system.
In an interview given to Israeli daily, Ma'ariv, an Israeli bird specialist explained that Israeli scientists are using GPS devices to determine the migration routes of the birds. In the interview, he expressed the hope that the bird would be released.
Settlers rats
The Palestine News Agency Wafa issued report about Israeli "settlers" releasing giant poison-resisting anti-Arab rats to the Old city of Jerusalem in order to scare away the Arab citizens of the city. Wafa, which is an organ controlled by the office of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, issued a report with headline:"Settlers flood the Old City of Jerusalem with rats." Without naming a single witness the report states: "Over the past two months, dozens of settlers come to the alleyways and streets of the Old City carrying iron cages full of rats. They release the rats, which find shelter in open sewage systems." The report does not clarify how Israelis were able to train the rats to attack only Arab, but not Jewish residents of the old city.
Reaction
Writing in The Australian, James Hider notes that Israeli spies are believed to be responsible for several recent assassinations in Arab countries, but describes the evidence that they have used animals to do so as "scant".
The Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens pointed to the Mossad shark and other Arab conspiracy theories as an example of "the debasement of the Arab mind."
Gil Yaron from Star-News said that "The Saudi accusation may seem paranoid, but fear of Mossad and its penchant for high-tech methods is a staple of Arab coverage of Israel."
Joshua Muravchik writes in World Affairs about some of Arabs misconceptions about Mossad: "This, after all, is the same agency that not only knows how to manipulate rats and sharks to spare Jews like the angel of death who passed over Jewish homes to persuade Pharaoh to let Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt. It is also the agency managed to warn 4,000 Jewish employees at the World Trade Center not to come to work on September 11, 2001, or to pass the warning on to their non-Jewish coworkers — a fact known to tens of millions of people across the Arab world."
See also
External links
Egyptian Intellectuals Fight Common Arab Misconceptions
References
- ^ Gil Yaron (January 5, 2011). "Secret agent vulture tale just the latest in animal plots". Star-News.
- ^ Jackson Diehl (January 5, 2011). "Israel's Spying Vulture – and Killer Shark". Washington Post.
- Julie Stahl (January 5, 2011). "Saudi Arabia Busts 'Israeli Spy' Vulture". CBN News.
- ^ Keith Thomson (January 5, 2011). "Could Vulture Captured in Saudi Arabia Have Been Sent by Mossad?". The Huffington Post.
- ^ James Hider (January 7, 2011). "Vulture held as Mossad spy by Saudi Arabia". The Australian.
- Khaled Abu Toameh (December 14, 2010). "What is Responsible for Miseries of the Arabs?". Hudson New York.
- ^ Haaretz Service (January 4, 2011). "Saudi Arabia 'nabbed Israeli-tagged vulture for being Mossad spy'". haaretz.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia 'detains' Israeli vulture for spying". BBC. January 5, 2011.
- "Egyptian Shark Attack: Jews Not Jaws?". honest reporting. 2010.
- Nasser Nasser (December 8, 2010). "Conspiracy Theories With a Bite". newsweek.
- Yasmine Fathi (December 6, 2010). "Expert shoots down conspiracy theory blaming Israel for shark attacks". Ahram.
- Khaled Abu Toameh (07/20/2008). "Palestinians: Israel uses rats against J'lem Arabs". Jerusalem Post.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Joshua Muravchik. "Epistemology to the Muslim World". World Affairs.