From The New York Times

Abu@Conspiracists, Freitag, 08. August 2003, 00:08 (vor 7782 Tagen) @ alex

Conspiracy theories in Arab discourse
Fawaz Turki, Special to Arab News


This column is not given to coiningaphorisms on
the fly, but one readily came to mind the other
day as the public debate in the «Arab street« and
in some quarters in the Arab media took up the
issue of the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
Conspiracy theories are more dangerous enemies of
truth than lies.


The most startling aspect of this phenomenon is
that conspiracy theorists have managed to
insinuate themselves into the mainstream of the
Arab discourse despite their far-fetched and
bizarre ideas. What is even more startling is that
no major event in our modern history has ever
taken place that these folk did not feel the need
to attribute a conspiratorial dimension to.


And if you think Arab conspiracy theorists are a
fringe group whose kooky notions are merely
tolerated by the public (like their counterparts
in the US who believe, for example, that President
Kennedy was assassinated by the CIA, and that the
landing on the moon in 1969 was a hoax), think
again. The input of Arab conspiracy theorists
about political events, especially those with a
sensational or dramatic hook, is of a radically
higher order, and commands a more scrupulous
hearing.

Take some recent cases.

When Princess Diana died in that car crash in
September 1997, some Arab commentators wrote with
a straight face, and in respectable journals, to
boot, that her death was the result of some
diabolical plot by British intelligence to end her
life rather than see her married off to an Arab
Muslim. A not insignificant number of Arabs
embraced that story.

A few months later, the Monica Lewinsky scandal
broke in Washington. How did the story play out in
some quarters of the Arab media and in the «Arab
street«? It was seen as a conspiracy by the
«Jewish lobby« and the «Christian right« to remove
Bill Clinton from office, presumably because he
was progressively coming round to the idea of a
Palestinian state. It had nothing to do with the
American president´s penchant for hitting on
women; and Lewinsky (who conveniently happened to
be Jewish) was seen as an agent-in-place put there
in the White House by «Jewish cliques.« ......"

Link has expred but the rest cab be found here:
http://www.ndtceda.com/archives/200112/0068.html