"Global
Village Idiocy"
"Between ads for Procter & Gamble shampoo, chocolate and computers for kids, viewers are introduced to an Israeli leader depicted as a vampire who craves the blood of Arab children and markets "Dracu-cola." The "prime minister" is shown personally leading the massacre of helpless prisoners and, in the most horrific scene of all, is shown overseeing the tossing of Arab babies into a bonfire." (Abraham Cooper)
News and commentary on the use of the modern mass media for spreading
hoaxes and incitement of hatred.
October 2002
"Anti-Semitic 'Elders of Zion' Gets New Life on Egypt TV" (Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, 2002/10/26)
"Egypt plans to air tv series on 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'" (AP/The Jerusalem Post, 2002/10/23)
"Air War" (Franklin Foer, The New Republic, 2002/10/16)
"Egypt's Cultural Revolution" (Martin Walker, UPI, 2002/10/13)
"How to bomb thy neighbor: Hamas offers online 'Academy'" (World Tribune.com, 2002/10/03)September 2002
"Virtual soldiers in a holy war" (Yossi Melman, Haaretz, 2002/09/13)July 2002
"The Jihad Online" (James S. Robbins, National Review, 2002/07/30)
"Israeli-Palestinian Battles Intrude on 'Sesame Street'" (Julie Salamon, The New York Times, 2002/07/30)June 2002
"Virgin video on Arafat's TV promises sexy after-life for 'martyrs'" (Michael Widlanski, The Media Line, 2002/06/27)
"A Mother's Blessing to Kill and Be Killed" (Daniel Williams, The Washington Post, 2002/06/25)
"The killing mantra" (Diana West, The Washington Times, 2002/06/21)
"Terror with an olive branch" (Shahar Smooha, Haaretz, 2002/06/20)
"An Interview with the Mother of a Suicide Bomber" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 391, 2002/06/18)
"Bomb-Making 101" (Dan Harris, ABC News, 2002/06/17)
"Gunman's Mom Sends Wishes in Video" (Jamie Tarabay, AP/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/17)
"The Baby Face of Hate" (David Tell, The Weekly Standard, 2002/06/12)
"Muslim children 'kill' Israelis on UK-made 'Islamic Fun' CD" (Robert Mendick. Independent, 2002/06/02)
"As Arab terror recovers, Palestinian media also return to old form, encouraging terror, Israeli Arab militancy and supporting Iraq" (Michael Widlanski, The Media Line, 2002/06/02)May 2002
"The September 11 X-Files" (David Corn, The Nation, 2002/05/30)
"The mother of all anti-Jew sites" (Ron Strom, WorldNetDaily, 2002/05/27)
"Suicide bombers recruited on the Net" (Odile Nelson, National Post, 2002/05/22)
"Terror, Lies And Videotape" (CBS News, 2002/05/15)
"Global Village Idiocy" (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, 2002/05/12)April 2002
"Rumors of War - The damage to the Pentagon on September 11 was caused by something other than a hijacked Boeing 757's being crashed into its side" (Urban Legends Reference Pages, 2002/04/01)March 2002
'"Hunt the Boeing' Answers" (Paul Boutin & Patrick Di Justo, Paul Boutin Weblogger, 2002/03/14)
"The Core of Muslim Rage" (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, 2002/03/06)February 2002
"Many in Islamic world doubt Arabs behind 9/11" (Andrea Stone, USA Today, 2002/02/27)January 2002
"Terror video used to lure UK Muslims" (Jason Burke, The Observer, 2002/01/27)
"A New Antisemitic Myth in the Arab Press: The September 11 Attacks Were Perpetrated by the Jews" (Special Report, MEMRI, 2002/01/08)December 2001
"Bin Laden's Private TV Channel" (Amir Taheri, The Wall Street Journal, 2001/12/28)
"Retrospective: A bin Laden Special on Al-Jazeera Two Months Before September 11" (Special Dispatch No. 319, MEMRI, 2001/12/21)
"How to Save the Arab World" (Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, from the 2001/12/24 issue)
"Hate Hits the Mainstream" (Abraham Cooper, Los Angeles Times, 2001/12/16)November 2001
"What the Muslim World Is Watching" (Fouad Ajami, The New York Times Magazine, 2001/11/18)
"His grasp of spin is chilling..." (Julia Magnet, The Daily Telegraph, 2001/11/16)October 2001
"Half of Pakistanis believe Israel behind US terrorist attacks" (hindustantimes.com, 2001/10/14)
"The battle to frame the battle" (Howard LaFranchi et al., The Christian Science Monitor, 2001/10/09)
"Bin Laden stirs up Arab world" (Frank Gardner, BBC News, 2001/10/08)
"4,000 Jews, 1 Lie - Tracking an Internet hoax" (Bryan Curtis, Slate, 2001/10/05)September 2001
"Bin Laden Recruits With Graphic Video" (Michael Powell, The Washington Post, 2001/09/27)
"Nostradamus called it!" (Janelle Brown, Salon.com, 2001/09/17)
"Anti-Semitic 'Elders of Zion' Gets New Life on Egypt TV" (Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, 2002/10/26)
"An Egyptian satellite television channel has begun teasers for its blockbuster Ramadan series that its producers acknowledge incorporates ideas from the infamous czarist forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." That document, a pillar of anti-Semitic hatred for about a century, appears to be gaining a new foothold in parts of the Arab world, some scholars and observers say. The series, "Horse Without a Horseman," traces the history of the Middle East from 1855 to 1917 through the eyes of an Egyptian who fought British occupiers and the Zionist movement. It is divided into 41 episodes and will be shown nightly through the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in about two weeks and guarantees maximum viewership because many Muslims congregate at home after breaking the daily fast. With Egyptian state television and other Arab channels also broadcasting the series, the potential audience numbers in the tens of millions. ... Still, the show's backers say they are keeping an open mind about its authenticity. They say that in any event, reality seems to bear them out, in that Israel controls part of the Middle East. "In a way, don't they dominate?" said Hala Sarhan, Dream TV's vice president and feisty personality on the air. 'Of course, what we read from the 'Protocols,' it says it's a kind of conspiracy. They want to control; they want to dominate. I represent everybody in the street. We will see whether this happened throughout history or not.'" (See also: "Egypt plans to air tv series on 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'" (AP/The Jerusalem Post, 2002/10/23))"Egypt plans to air tv series on 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'" (AP/The Jerusalem Post, 2002/10/23)
Arab anti-Semitism II: "Egyptian state television will broadcast a 30-part series based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an infamous anti-Semitic tract the show's creator and star says "reveals the Zionist schemes to seize Palestine." This week, Egyptian television began advertising "Horseman Without a Horse," which it said will be broadcast during the first half of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month and traditionally prime time for serialized television specials. Ramadan starts in early November." (Note: For more information about the Protocols, see also: "'You know very well that the Zionists control everything'" (Mårten Barck, 2001/10/21))"Air War" (Franklin Foer, The New Republic, 2002/10/16)
"Like their Soviet-bloc predecessors, the Iraqis have become masters of the Orwellian pantomime - the state-orchestrated anti-American rally, the state-led tours of alleged chemical weapons sites that turn out to be baby milk factories - that promotes their distorted reality. And the Iraqi regime has found an audience for these displays in an unlikely place: the U.S. media. It's not because American reporters have an ideological sympathy for Saddam Hussein; broadcasting his propaganda is simply the only way they can continue to work in Iraq. ... To stay on the right side of the regime, many reporters on the Baghdad beat take the path of least resistance: They mimic the Baath Party line. ... In her report reviewing Saddam's past ten years, Arraf included no mention of his butchery that has been documented in Human Rights Watch reports and in dozens of books. From her telling, you'd think he's the Robert Moses of Mesopotamia. ... When I asked CNN's Jordan to explain why his network is so devoted to maintaining a perpetual Baghdad presence, he listed two reasons: "First, because it's newsworthy; second, because there's an expectation that if anybody is in Iraq, it will be CNN." His answer reveals the fundamental attitude of most Western media: Access to Baghdad is an end in itself, regardless of the intellectual or moral caliber of the journalism such access produces. An old journalistic aphorism holds "access is a curse." The Iraqi experience proves it can be much worse than that.""Egypt's Cultural Revolution" (Martin Walker, UPI, 2002/10/13)
Here's a new twist to conspiracy theories regarding Bush's stance on Iraq - it's really about China and Europe: "Something important is happening in Egypt. It might be called the al-Jazeera effect, the way that the highly professional and popular Qatar-based satellite TV channel is starting to change the media culture of the Arab world. Less than a year ago, a new private satellite channel was launched in Egypt called Dream TV. ... The show that everyone watches is Al-Ustaz, the Professor, which features the grand old man of Egyptian journalism, Mohamed Heykal, former editor of Al-Ahram, adviser and close confidant to former President Nasser. So far he has done three shows, all discussing politics and world affairs, and they have all had a huge impact. His latest show, on Iraq and the Bush administration, has been re-broadcast three times already. Heikal did not give the standard Arab rant about Jewish influence in Washington and Arab victimhood, and ridiculed the idea that America's top priority was to crush Iraq and the Arab world in general. "It's all a sideshow. Iraq is just the battleground," Heykal said. 'What is about to happen in Iraq is about taming the rising international monsters, the big international competitors like China and Europe. Unfortunately, the Iraqi people will suffer and so will we all, but this is not about us. This is about international strategy.'""How to bomb thy neighbor: Hamas offers online 'Academy'" (World Tribune.com, 2002/10/03)
"The Hamas organization has launched an Internet course in the production and assembly of explosives. Israeli and Palestinian sources said Hamas, which claims responsibility for the lion's share of Palestinian suicide bombing attacks, has established an Internet site that offers Muslims instructions in the production of bombs, rockets and light aircraft. They said the news of the site has spread throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The instructions can be found on the web site of Hamas's Izzedin Kassam military wing, Middle East Newsline reported. The site, called "Military Academy," offers 14 lessons in bomb-making as part of what the Islamic group said is a campaign to expand the pool of bomb-makers."
"Virtual soldiers in a holy war" (Yossi Melman, Haaretz, 2002/09/13)
"In fact, most experts now believe that Al Qaida has practically ceased to exist as an active organization with operational capability or, at least, that it has decided to refrain from action for now. But this void is quickly being filled by the various Web sites. The most prominent are alneda.com, jehad.net and aloswa.org. They feature many quotes from the tapes of bin Laden that have been aired during the past year by Al Jazeera, words of praise for the 15 Saudis who were among the hijackers, and sometimes statements from anonymous spokesmen promising more terror attacks. ... These Web sites frequently cite the teachings of Mohammed Al-Muqaddasi, a Palestinian from the West Bank now imprisoned in Jordan. Muqaddasi is an ideologue from the Wahabi movement (the puritanical stream that originated in Saudi Arabia and to which the Saudi royal kingdom adheres). His books were found in Mohammed Atta's Hamburg apartment.""The Jihad Online" (James S. Robbins, National Review, 2002/07/30)
Robbins on cyberterrorism, al Qaeda on the net and the hacker community's own war on terrorism, with some useful links: "A case in point: Anyone who tries to find the official al Qaeda website Alneda (the Call) via its most recent IP address 65.216.200.41 is greeted by a screen proclaiming "Hacked, tracked, and NOW owned by the U.S.A." This is one of the several initiatives pursued by Jon David, an adult-content webmaster who has made it his mission to frustrate the online jihadists. The "porno patriot" uses sophisticated software to seize web domains when they move between hosts (which they invariably do when providers find out what is on their servers), and he has licensed or assumed control of Alneda.com, Alneda.net, Al-Qaeda.com, and nukeafghanistan.com, among scores of others. In the case of Alneda, David hijacked the domain name, put up a mirror of the original site as it appeared in June, then logged hits to the decoy site for five days using tracking software. Once the terrorists caught on that this was not their resurrected Alneda, word got out - but not before over 20,000 hits per day were tracked and the information turned over to the authorities. The actual Alneda site (in Arabic) can now be accessed at IP address 66.132.29.71 - hopefully not for long.""Israeli-Palestinian Battles Intrude on 'Sesame Street'" (Julie Salamon, The New York Times, 2002/07/30)
An article about the growing difficulties with the Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian co-production of "Sesame Street": "The name "Sesame Street" has been changed to "Sesame Stories" because the concept of a place where people and puppets from those three groups can mingle freely has become untenable. The original shows were built around the notion that Israeli and Palestinian children (as well as puppets) might become friends. Now, reflecting the somber mood in the Middle East, producers see their best hope as helping children to humanize their historic enemies through separate but parallel stories. "We've realized that a goal of friendship was beyond realism, given where things are now," said Charlotte Cole, vice president of international research for the Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop) in New York. ... The creative back and forth - taking place in meetings near London and in New York and by telephone and e-mail messages - has an eggshell fragility. The utterance of every Muppet is potentially inflammatory."
"Virgin video on Arafat's TV promises sexy after-life for 'martyrs'" (Michael Widlanski, The Media Line, 2002/06/27)
"The movie clip, which preceded and introduced the 3PM afternoon news, is about Palestinian "martyrdom"- its causes and its rewards. The man and his wife see Israeli army (IDF) soldiers, and frowns darken their features, and the music is very morose. The young man clearly starts thinking about how to strike out at the Israeli soldiers. Almost immediately, the music changes to a more optimistic tone as, out of a kind of mist, stunningly beautiful young women - between 18 and 22 years of age - begin to beckon to him. The gorgeous women, who are younger than his wife, are all clad in billowy white robes. They are all smiling fetchingly as they call to him, making motions with their hands as if to say "come-here" and "join us." We next see the man after he is captured by the IDF following an apparent attack on them. But, as the music takes on another sinister twist, the Israelis deliberately release the Palestinian man. Their plan is clear: they are going to kill the handsome Arab man "while trying to escape." He appears as a target in the cross-hairs of an Israeli automatic rifle. His wife cries, her face screwed up in agony, but the end is not sad. The camera moves quickly from the bereaved widow to the new Palestinian martyr who is smiling in paradise. One of the gorgeous women in white greets him and pulls him into the mist where she and seven or eight beautiful women begin to surround him and gently caress him. The video ends on a happy note without a word having been said, but the message is clear: here is the Islamic tradition of a martyr being welcomed into paradise where he will be ministered by 72 beautiful virgins. ... The new Palestinian television video - aired in the afternoon for maximum viewing by Palestinian children - underscores the message of hope. It is a hope for a better world, but not in this world, not in this lifetime.""A Mother's Blessing to Kill and Be Killed" (Daniel Williams, The Washington Post, 2002/06/25)
"Although most parents of the dead are in the dark - or at least feign ignorance - about their offspring's activities, Farahat said she was in on Mohammed's plans from the beginning. She gave him moral support and has the videotape to prove it. The video, recently beamed throughout the Middle East on Arabic-language television, has made Farahat a celebrity. She has taken on the name Um Nidal, Mother of Struggle. Arab reporters flock to her door (when she is not in hiding, for fear of Israeli reprisals). ... Wusam, the brother who lost three fingers in the grenade blast, shot the video of the last goodbye. It was the beginning of an elaborate propaganda testament. Mother and son, she in a black robe and head scarf, he in an olive fatigue shirt over a black T-shirt, strolled in a walled garden. ... She kissed him four times on the neck, held her hand over his heart and blessed his mission. ... Later, an off-camera narrator remarked, "Images like these render words useless." ... Wusam said he would like to imitate his older brother. Hearing this, Farahat's composure returned. "I love all my children," she said, 'but my feelings for them can never match the feelings I have for my martyred son.'""The killing mantra" (Diana West, The Washington Times, 2002/06/21)
West on MSNBC's Alan Keyes program showing subtitled clips from Palestinian-controlled television: "The Palestinian Authority may blindly blame Israel for creating a generation of suicidal maniacs, but it is the PA itself that has helped nurture - if such a word applies - such taboo-breaking evil through its relentless propaganda machine. ... It starts with state-sponsored sing-alongs for the romper-room set - ditties about blood-drenched soil and warriors of jihad. It continues with shows featuring girls in party dresses delivering bloodthirsty harangues: "When I wander into the entrance of Jerusalem, I'll turn into a suicide warrior! I'll turn into a suicide warrior! In battle-dress! In battle-dress! In battle-dress!" And it goes on through the seemingly continuous loop of government-broadcast sermons. From one tele-imam comes, "Bless those who wired themselves, putting the belt around his waist or his sons, and who enter deeply in the Jewish community and say, 'Allah is great.' " Or: "Wherever you are, kill these Jews and these Americans who are like them and support them." ... We hear of the need to reform the PA, from its terror-abetting "security" forces to its corrupt apparatchiks, but the subject of dismantling its poisonous propaganda machine isn't mentioned. As de-Nazification was once required, "de-martyrfication" is one of today's most urgent challenges." (See also: "Transcript for Monday, June 17, 2002" (MSNBC, 2002/06/17), a full transcript of the "Alan Keyes is making sense" show.)"Terror with an olive branch" (Shahar Smooha, Haaretz, 2002/06/20)
An article on a study of the Web-based rhetoric of terror groups made by Prof. Gabi Weiman and Dr. Yariv Tzfati: "The researchers, who sum up their findings in an article to appear in an upcoming issue of Rand, the American think tank's journal, decided to examine the Web-based rhetoric of terror groups and found that almost all the groups either hide their violent activity or make no mention of it. The reason, they believe, is that the terrorist groups perceive the general Western public, but particularly Internet users, as educated and liberal. So, they emphasize those subjects that Western democracies would find sympathetic. Government actions against terrorism, like harming freedom of speech, arrests without trials, and torture, contradict the basic values of Western democracies, and are emphasized at the sites. ... "The similarity between the terrorist rhetoric on the Internet and other media is the wealth of propaganda techniques, transferring the guilt to the other side and justifying the use of violence," says Weiman. "The difference is that terrorist rhetoric on the Net is much more pacifist and liberal, and uses terms that we found more on the Internet than elsewhere." Weiman says that "the terrorists assume that the Net carries its own non-violent message of freedom of speech, liberty, open globalization, and certainly not violence, so they adapt themselves to the nature of the medium and the audience.""An Interview with the Mother of a Suicide Bomber" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 391, 2002/06/18)
Excerpts from an interview with Umm Nidal, the mother of the suicide bomber Muhammad Farhat, published in the London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: "Jihad is a [religious] commandment imposed upon us. We must instill this idea in our sons' souls, all the time... ... This is an easy thing. There is no disagreement [among scholars] on such matters. The happiness in this world is an incomplete happiness; eternal happiness is life in the world to come, through martyrdom. Allah be praised, my son has attained this happiness. ... The atmosphere to which Muhammad was exposed was full of faith and love of martyrdom. I maintain that a man's faith does not reach perfection unless it attains self-sacrifice… ... When the operation was over, the media broadcast the news. Then Muhammad's brother came to me and informed me of his martyrdom. I began to cry, 'Allah is the greatest,' and prayed and thanked Allah for the success of the operation. I began to utter cries of joy and we declared that we were happy. The young people began to fire into the air out of joy over the success of the operation, as this is what we had hoped for him." (See also: "Gunman's Mom Sends Wishes in Video" (Jamie Tarabay, AP/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/17))"Bomb-Making 101" (Dan Harris, ABC News, 2002/06/17)
"A chilling 3 ½-hour videotape obtained by ABCNEWS features what the Israeli military calls "Bomb-making 101" for Palestinian militants. The tape starts with a masked man - who says he's a member of the military wing of the Islamic militant group Hamas - giving a brief lecture on the importance of waging holy war against the Israelis, and the heavenly rewards awaiting those who make and explode bombs. And then the lesson begins. ... As the tape continues, the bomb-maker says: "Now my brother fighters, we put the shrapnel in the case … It's better to use ball bearings than nuts." They're more deadly and destructive, he explains. Then come the explosives: specifically, nitroglycerin. This is one ingredient that is hard come by - it's usually smuggled in from Egypt or stolen in Israel. "We can only fit 7 kilos," the bomb-maker says as he loads the explosives into the bomb casing. "We were hoping to include more." There wasn't enough room.""Gunman's Mom Sends Wishes in Video" (Jamie Tarabay, AP/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/17)
"In a farewell video taped before Mahmoud el Abed embarked on a suicide attack, he sat holding hands with his mother, who prayed for him to become a "martyr" as she conferred her blessing. ... It is customary for suicide attackers to make farewell videos, but the inclusion of the assailant's mother was unusual. In most cases, mothers and fathers are not informed because recruiters fear the parents will try to stop a planned attack. But Naima el Abed was right at her son's side, encouraging him. When news arrived Sunday that her son had died in a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, she celebrated by ululating and clapping her hands. ... "Our children are in heaven, their children are in hell," Naima el Abed said Sunday at her son's funeral. ... "This is the best day of my life. God willing, you will become a martyr and you will be successful. May every bullet hit its target," Naima told her son in the video." (See also: "Palestinian Mothers - Their Increasing Support In Sending Their Sons On Suicide Attacks" (IDF, 2002/06/16): "This attack followed the same pattern as other recent attacks carried out by Hamas, including the ritual of the terrorist's mother being photographed and expressing approval of her son's imminent death.")"The Baby Face of Hate" (David Tell, The Weekly Standard, 2002/06/12)
A report on a briefing held by MEMRI at the National Press Club in Washington on Arabic-language media coverage of "martyrdom and suicide bombers," where they screened a compilation of recent broadcasts on the Arab satellite channel Iqraa Television: "And, most harrowing of all, perhaps, especially if you have kids of your own, there is the May 7, 2002 edition of "Muslim Woman Magazine," hosted by Doaa 'Amer, a soft spoken, highly polished anchorlady who might just as well be Joan Lunden or Katie Couric - except that she's wearing a body-length robe. And also that she's a monster. Ms. 'Amer begins as follows: "Our report today will be a little different, because our guest is a girl, a Muslim girl, but a true Muslim. Allah willing, may our God give us the strength to educate our children the same way, so that the next generation will turn out to be true Muslims who understand that they are Muslims and know who their enemies are." ... The camera then begins a low pan downward and to the right as Ms. 'Amer offers a "peace be unto you" welcome to her guest. Who turns out to be . . . a toddler.
'Amer: Basmallah, how old are you?
Toddler: Three and a half.
'Amer: Are you a Muslim?
Toddler: Yes.
'Amer: Basmallah, are you familiar with the Jews?
Toddler: Yes.
'Amer: Do you like them?
Toddler: No.
'Amer: Why don't you like them?
Toddler: Because . . .
'Amer: Because they are what?
Toddler: They're apes and pigs.""Muslim children 'kill' Israelis on UK-made 'Islamic Fun' CD" (Robert Mendick. Independent, 2002/06/02)
"A British company is producing an educational CD-Rom that encourages Muslim children as young as five to "kill" Israelis. The CD, called Islamic Fun!, is being sold for £19.95 from a suburban home in Crawley, West Sussex. One of the games on the disc, obtained by The Independent on Sunday, is called The Resistance and tells children playing it: "You are a farmer in south Lebanon who has joined the Islamic Resistance to defend your land and family from the invading Zionists." ... There are three playing levels: for children aged between five and seven years, those aged eight to 10, and the hardest level for children aged 11 and over. Questions include "What was the crime of the Jews of Khayber?" and 'Who said: 'I know I have been elected thanks to the votes of US Jews. I owe my election to them. Tell me what I have to do for the Jewish people' to Ben Gurion?'""As Arab terror recovers, Palestinian media also return to old form, encouraging terror, Israeli Arab militancy and supporting Iraq" (Michael Widlanski, The Media Line, 2002/06/02)
A survey of Palestinian media the last two weeks: "Indoctrinating Palestinians to hate Israel starts early on Palestinian television. For the last two weeks, perhaps as a lead-up to the World Cup soccer tournament, Palestinian television has featured afternoon movies that include an Israeli atrocity committed against Palestinian children playing soccer. In the short film features, which air at two or three in the afternoon (for optimum viewing by children), a gang of Israeli soldiers (played by Egyptian and Palestinian actors) decides to use the ten-year-old Palestinian soccer kids as shooting targets. There is no reason for the attack by the Israeli soldiers, most of whom are pictured wearing kipot or yarmulkes - the Jewish skull caps worn by religious Jews. After killings several of the kids in the middle of the field, the Israeli soldiers are seen patting each other on the back laughingly while the camera moves in for a close-up shot of the dead Palestinian children.""The September 11 X-Files" (David Corn, The Nation, 2002/05/30)
"Corn on conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks. More specifically he debunks Michael Ruppert and Delmart "Mike" Vreeland, who "runs a website that has cornered a large piece of the alternative-9/11 market" and the book "Bin Laden; the Forbidden Truth", by Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, "in which they maintain that the 9/11 attacks were the 'outcome' of 'private and risky discussions' between the United States and the Taliban 'concerning geostrategic oil interests.'": "An American who was jailed in Canada, Vreeland claims to be a US naval intelligence officer who tried to warn the authorities before the attacks. Ruppert cites Vreeland to back up his allegation that the CIA had "foreknowledge" of the 9/11 attacks and that there is a strong case for "criminal complicity on the part of the U.S. government in their execution." ... To believe Vreeland's scribbles mean anything, one must believe his claim to be a veteran intelligence operative sent to Moscow on an improbable top-secret, high-tech mission (change design documents to neutralize an entire technology) during which he stumbled upon documents (which he has not revealed) showing that 9/11 was going to happen. To believe that, one must believe he is a victim of a massive disinformation campaign, involving his family, law enforcement officers and defense lawyers across the country, two state corrections departments, county clerk offices in ten or so counties, the Canadian justice system and various parts of the US government. And one must believe that hundreds, if not thousands, of detailed court, county, prison and state records have been forged." (See also: and From the Wilderness, a site which focuses on Vreeland and Ruppert.)"The mother of all anti-Jew sites" (Ron Strom, WorldNetDaily, 2002/05/27)
"Despite the prominent display of the words "No hate, no violence," an anti-Jewish website provides plenty of opportunities – in several different languages – to read about the "evils" of the Jews and how the "deception" of the Holocaust is being used as a propaganda tool by "Zionists." Radio Islam is named for a radio station of the same name in Stockholm, Sweden, begun in 1987, according to the site. The website creators say its goal is to "combat Jewish racism and the Zionist ideology by information in order to reveal the simple propaganda – lies that Zionists use in order to promote their ideology and political aims – lies which thereby become an instrument of oppression of people." ... The website includes countless links in up to 16 languages, including columns, statements and other documents supporting an unwavering position against Jews worldwide. ... A main theme woven throughout the site is the claim that Jews control the United States. A questionable quote the site attributes to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says: "We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." Another page features a list of Jews in the Bush administration, including photos, while still another is titled, 'USA's Rulers: All Are Jews!'" (See also: Radio Islam)"Suicide bombers recruited on the Net" (Odile Nelson, National Post, 2002/05/22)
"Terrorist groups are using the Internet to recruit international suicide bombers, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said yesterday. The Los Angeles-based organization found two sites, one in Iran and the other in Gaza. With a few clicks of a mouse and the keying-in of basic contact information, volunteers can enlist for an attack on the United States or Israel. ... As well as the suicide enrollment sites, the report notes sites offering free, online video games where children can play at being a virtual suicide bomber or engage in ethnic cleansing as a KKK member or skinhead. It also discovered a growing number of sites propagating the theory that the United States itself commissioned the Sept. 11 attacks. ''Cyberspace is the new weapon of choice for terrorists and the promotion of the 'big lie' tactics,'' Rabbi Cooper said. 'The sites really run the spectrum from real recruitment and endorsement of suicide bombings to the desensitization of youth.'""Terror, Lies And Videotape" (CBS News, 2002/05/15)
"Enemies of the United States are spreading on the Internet a gruesome piece of propaganda. It is a videotape of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered earlier this year in Pakistan. And it is being used by terrorists to recruit new soldiers for the cause. The tape is titled "The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl," and it as disturbing a piece of propaganda as you will ever see, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin. ... Interspersed with news clips, the video of Pearl's final hours is a cold-blooded recruiting poster for America's enemies, complete with Arabic subtitles. "The translation is in Arabic because the audience is Arabic," says Ali al-Ahmed, a dissident Saudi Arabian journalist, who found it on the Web a few days ago. ... What is perhaps most shocking is that some viewers do not find it repulsive. "The first place where they had it on most of the people who commented on the tape, they said, 'I wish I was there. I wish I had done it,'" says al-Ahmed. ... "My father's Jewish. My mother's Jewish. I'm Jewish," says Pearl. And that seems to be the real reason Pearl was murdered, not because he was a spy but because he was a Jew and an American. ... The tape ends with Pearl's beheading which no one needs to watch. But everyone needs to understand that this tape is a testament to the depth of the hatred against the United States, not just among terrorists but throughout much of the Arab world.""Global Village Idiocy" (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, 2002/05/12)
"On my way to Jakarta I stopped in Dubai, where I watched the Arab News Network at 2 a.m. ANN broadcasts from Europe, outside the control of any Arab government, but is seen all over the Middle East. It was running what I'd call the "greatest hits" from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: nonstop film of Israelis hitting, beating, dragging, clubbing and shooting Palestinians. I would like to say the footage was out of context, but there was no context. There were no words. It was just pictures and martial music designed to inflame passions. ... If there's one thing I learned from this trip to Israel, Jordan, Dubai and Indonesia, it's this: thanks to the Internet and satellite TV, the world is being wired together technologically, but not socially, politically or culturally. ... At its best, the Internet can educate more people faster than any media tool we've ever had. At its worst, it can make people dumber faster than any media tool we've ever had. ... The lie that 4,000 Jews were warned not to go into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 was spread entirely over the Internet and is now thoroughly believed in the Muslim world. ... I call it the "I Hate You" virus. It's spread on the Internet and by satellite TV. It infects people's minds with the most vile ideas, and it can't be combated by just downloading a software program. It can be reversed only with education, exchanges, diplomacy and human interaction - stuff you have to upload the old-fashioned way, one on one. Let's hope it's not too late.""Rumors of War - The damage to the Pentagon on September 11 was caused by something other than a hijacked Boeing 757's being crashed into its side" (Urban Legends Reference Pages, 2002/04/01)
A debunking of the myth that no Boeing was involved in the Pentagon attack on September 11: "The notion that the Pentagon was not damaged by terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) and crashed it into the military office complex, but that the whole affair was staged by the U.S. government, has been promulgated by French author Thierry Meyssan in his book, The Frightening Fraud. Meyssan offers no real explanation for what did cause the extensive damage to the Pentagon, asserting only that Flight 77 did not exist, no plane crashed into the Pentagon, and that "the American government is lying." Unfortunately, the appeal of conspiracy theories has resulted in widespread dissemination of Meyssan's "theory" in France and the USA, particularly in web sites that mirror his work."'"Hunt the Boeing' Answers" (Paul Boutin & Patrick Di Justo, Paul Boutin Weblogger, 2002/03/14)
A thourogh debunking of the myth that no Boeing aircraft was involved in the terror attack on Pentagon on September 11: "As lifelong propellerheads who firmly believe in asking questions, we found Hunt the Boeing an engaging puzzle, despite its tragic subject matter, but one full of obvious errors and misleading questions. Since many of our friends continue to ask us if we've seen the site, we decided to document our answers to it, which we wrote separately. As might be expected, Patrick focused on the math and science (you may remember his widely circulated napkin math on the WTC attack), while Paul picked apart the wording of the questions." (See also: "Hunt the Boeing! And test your perceptions!" (Asile.org))"The Core of Muslim Rage" (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, 2002/03/06)
"Why is it that when Hindus kill hundreds of Muslims it elicits an emotionally muted headline in the Arab media, but when Israel kills a dozen Muslims, in a war in which Muslims are also killing Jews, it inflames the entire Muslim world? ... When Hindus kill Muslims it's not a story, because there are a billion Hindus and they aren't part of the Muslim narrative. When Saddam murders his own people it's not a story, because it's in the Arab-Muslim family. But when a small band of Israeli Jews kills Muslims it sparks rage — a rage that must come from Muslims having to confront the gap between their self-perception as Muslims and the reality of the Muslim world. ... Three broad trends are now converging: (1) The worst killing ever between Israelis and Palestinians; (2) a baby boom in the Arab-Muslim world, where about half the population is under 20; (3) an explosion of Arab satellite TV and Internet, which are taking the horrific images from the intifada and beaming them directly to the new Arab-Muslim generation. If 100 million Arab-Muslims are brought up with these images, Israel won't survive.""Many in Islamic world doubt Arabs behind 9/11" (Andrea Stone, USA Today, 2002/02/27)
"A sweeping poll of attitudes in the Islamic world shows that most Muslims don't believe Arabs carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and disapprove of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan. The Gallup Organization poll, released Tuesday, is the most comprehensive survey of Muslim countries taken since Sept. 11. It confirms anecdotal evidence of a huge gulf between the West and Muslim nations that existed before the attacks and remains deep. Although most Muslims condemn the terrorist attacks that sparked the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the poll shows a majority believe the campaign is morally unjustified and express a breathtaking depth of anti-U.S. sentiment.""Terror video used to lure UK Muslims" (Jason Burke, The Observer, 2002/01/27)
"A gruesome video showing Islamic extremists murdering and mutilating 'infidels' is being circulated in Britain's mosques as part of a recruiting drive for Osama bin Laden's worldwide terror network. The video, which was smuggled into the UK only days before the 11 September attacks, shows people having their throats cut and the wholesale slaughter of secular forces by a group linked to the world's most wanted terrorist. ... The commentary calls for 'holy war until judgment day', and tells viewers to 'kill in the name of Allah until you are killed. Then you will win your place forever in paradise... the war against the Jews and the Christians is being won.'""A New Antisemitic Myth in the Arab Press: The September 11 Attacks Were Perpetrated by the Jews" (Special Report, MEMRI, 2002/01/08)
"Since September 11, the Arab media have claimed that Jews perpetrated the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Promoting this new myth are high-ranking public officials and columnists in the government and non-government press in Arab countries. In an attempt to deflect blame from the Arab-Muslim suspects in the attacks, the media have floated a number of ideas on the identities of the perpetrators. According to Arab perceptions, the attacks were carried out by those who stood to gain the most from them. Also examined was the question of who had the capability to carry out such an operation. In the articles reviewed in this report, the conclusions point directly at the Jews. These conclusions are supported by various forms of evidence, further buttressed by timeworn, long-"substantiated" antisemitic myths. Thus, the papers posit guilt, substantiate their accusations, convict, and, in one case, hand down a sentence – annihilation 'as Hitler did.'""Bin Laden's Private TV Channel" (Amir Taheri, The Wall Street Journal, 2001/12/28)
"The secret of al Jazeera's undoubted success, however, lies not in its craven approach to Arab leaders, but elsewhere. It tells Arabs what they already think the mythical "Arab street" feels. It assumes that radical Islamism is on the rise in all Arab countries and that it's secretly supported by the majority. This is why al Jazeera talk shows, the backbone of its programming, favor radical Islamists. The situation also takes for granted that the average Arab is deeply anti-West and especially anti-American. The channel creates the impression that the West, and the U.S. in particular, are behind all of the Arabs' woes, including the presence of incompetent and corrupt regimes.""Retrospective: A bin Laden Special on Al-Jazeera Two Months Before September 11" (Special Dispatch No. 319, MEMRI, 2001/12/21)
"On July 10, 2001, on the Al-Jazeera talk show "Opposite Direction," Dr. Faysal Al-Qassem dedicated a program to "Bin Laden – The Arab Despair and American Fear." ... Concluding the program, host Al-Qassem said: "Al-Hatem 'Adlan, there was an opinion poll in a Kuwaiti paper which showed that 69% of Kuwaitis, Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians think bin Laden is an Arab hero and an Islamic Jihad warrior... 65% claimed that attacking American targets was justified, because it [is implementation of the principle of] 'an eye for an eye,' and because the American slogan is 'Might is Right'... 76% would be sorry if bin Laden were caught. You demand democracy and such things – here's democracy for you. This is [the opinion of] the people. Besides, I have a poll on the [Al-Jazeera] Internet site. Out of 3,942 people who responded, 82.7% saw bin Laden as a Jihad fighter, 8.8% as a terrorist, and 8.4% didn't know. This is an actual result about which there can be no argument… There is an Arab consensus from the Gulf to the [Atlantic] ocean.""How to Save the Arab World" (Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, from the 2001/12/24 issue)
"America's allies in the Middle East are autocratic, corrupt and heavy-handed. But they are still more liberal, tolerant and pluralistic than what would likely replace them. If elections had been held last month in Saudi Arabia with King Fahd and Osama bin Laden on the ballot, I would not bet too heavily on His Royal Highness’s fortunes. ... A similar dynamic is evident in the kingdoms of the gulf from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. In Jordan and Morocco, on virtually every political issue, the monarchs are more liberal than the societies over which they reign. ... In most societies dissidents force their country to take a hard look at its own failings. In the Middle East, the democrats are the first to seek refuge in fantasy, denial and delusion. The state-owned media do not need to promote crazed conspiracy theories about the Mossad's secret role in bombing the World Trade Center or the CIA’s fabrication of the bin Laden videotape. The "free" television station, Al-Jazeera, does it voluntarily - and the public laps it up.""Hate Hits the Mainstream" (Abraham Cooper, Los Angeles Times, 2001/12/16)
"Witness the new series airing on the state-run satellite television network of the Arab gulf state Abu Dhabi. Facing stiff competition for 25 million homes in the Arab and Muslim world from satellite network Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV has decided to seek its market share by launching "Plots of Terror." ... Between ads for Procter & Gamble shampoo, chocolate and computers for kids, viewers are introduced to an Israeli leader depicted as a vampire who craves the blood of Arab children and markets "Dracu-cola." The "prime minister" is shown personally leading the massacre of helpless prisoners and, in the most horrific scene of all, is shown overseeing the tossing of Arab babies into a bonfire. ... Ominously, the Abu Dhabi series reflects the mainstreaming of anti-Semitism across the Arab world." (Note: The original link is down, but the article can be found at standwithus.com)"What the Muslim World Is Watching" (Fouad Ajami, The New York Times Magazine, 2001/11/18)
"Al Jazeera, which claims a global audience of 35 million Arabic-speaking viewers, may not officially be the Osama bin Laden Channel - but he is clearly its star, as I learned during an extended viewing of the station's programming in October. ... Compared with other Arab media outlets, Al Jazeera may be more independent - but it is also more inflammatory. For the dark side of the pan-Arab worldview is an aggressive mix of anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism, and these hostilities drive the station's coverage, whether it is reporting on the upheaval in the West Bank or on the American raids on Kandahar. ... Day in and day out, Al Jazeera deliberately fans the flames of Muslim outrage.""His grasp of spin is chilling..." (Julia Magnet, The Daily Telegraph, 2001/11/16)
"Few Westerners have seen Osama bin Laden's recruitment video in full. So what did Julia Magnet, a young Jewish New Yorker, make of it?": "This is a great propaganda film - the kind that you can't get out of your head. Bin Laden's story of Muslim subjugation turning to resistance is so effective that I barely need my transcripts. He uses the most sophisticated western film-making techniques: it's as if Guy Ritchie, Sylvester Stallone and Spielberg have banded together to make jihad, the movie. ... In slow motion, and in time to the music, Israeli soldiers beat two women with sticks, until one falls to ground. The soldiers carry off screaming men, as if they are so much rubbish. Then, they strike a little boy with such force that he crumples to the ground. These images, and similar ones, are repeated over and over, until the violence seems unending. ... Throughout, he is screaming tearfully over the music: "Your sister goes to bed honourable and wakes up violated, raped by the Jews." As we see images of beatings for the umpteenth time, all he can do is wail - a curiously effective cry of impotence and grief.""Half of Pakistanis believe Israel behind US terrorist attacks" (hindustantimes.com, 2001/10/14)
An article on the results of a poll by Gallup commissioned by Newsweek: "The poll showed 48 percent of Pakistanis believe Israel carried out the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, compared to 12 percent who blame Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden. It said 25 percent of people polled believe a US group carried out the attacks, which killed more than 5,000 people, while five percent blame the Palestinians. ... Only three percent sympathised with the United States in the conflict, compared to 87 percent with Afghanistan's Taliban Islamic militia, and 75 percent opposed the use of Pakistani airfields by US forces. Bin Laden, the Afghanistan-based Islamic militant accused by the United States of masterminding the September 11 attacks, is viewed by 82 percent as a "mujahid" or freedom fighter, while just six percent consider him a terrorist. ... A Newsweek statement said Gallup Pakistan polled 978 adults across the country on October 11 and 12. It said the survey had a margin of error of three to four percentage points.""The battle to frame the battle" (Howard LaFranchi et al., The Christian Science Monitor, 2001/10/09)
"In the coming days and weeks, the public-opinion war - particularly in Afghanistan and the Muslim world - is likely to be as crucial as the military campaign. ... ...some worry that the widespread dissemination of bin Laden's words, the first graphic installment in the propaganda war, make the 'war' more difficult to win. 'We never saw Hitler making his speeches except in newsreels. Here you have bin Laden on everybody's television set,' says Henry Graff, a history professor and presidential scholar at Colombia University in New York. 'The propaganda is being spread all over the world by American television, by world television.'""Bin Laden stirs up Arab world" (Frank Gardner, BBC News, 2001/10/08)
"Over the last few weeks, the West's message of the need to get tough with Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban has singularly failed to permeate through to most Arabs. They are not really listening to what President George W Bush or Prime Minister Tony Blair have to say. Instead, they are too busy watching the latest vitriolic interview with Osama Bin Laden himself on al-Jazeera, the popular Qatari satellite TV channel. ... Despite his extremist Wahhabite interpretation of Islam, his declared motives tap into a rich vein of Arab discontent. "I swear by Almighty God," he told the Arab world on Sunday, "that neither the United States nor he who lives in the United States will enjoy security before we can see it as a reality in Palestine and before all the infidel armies leave the land of Mohammed". Palestinians clapped for joy when they heard these words. Some Saudis even wept with tears of emotion. This is a man who speaks the language of the Arabs in more ways than one.""4,000 Jews, 1 Lie - Tracking an Internet hoax" (Bryan Curtis, Slate, 2001/10/05)
"It is an article of faith in many Muslim countries that Israel was behind the attack on the World Trade Center, with many citing as their evidence a "news report" that 4,000 Israelis called in sick from their jobs at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The allegation has now appeared on scores of Web sites and bulletin boards, has been reproduced in e-mails too numerous to count, and has run as fact in newspapers and news broadcasts in the Middle East. Where did this charge originate, and what path did it take around the world?""Bin Laden Recruits With Graphic Video" (Michael Powell, The Washington Post, 2001/09/27)
"Shot at training bases in Afghanistan, and drawing on powerful and horrific news images of soldiers beating and killing Muslim women and children, the two-hour video offers a window into the worldview of the man who has led his followers into a war with the United States. ... The film opens with a Holocaust-like montage of horrors perpetrated on Muslims. Dead boys, eyes vacant, stare up. Children scream, dirt is tossed on a coffin, a woman's face is soaked with blood. And, repeatedly, footage shows Israeli soldiers hitting children and shooting at civilians. An Israeli soldier is shown putting a dead baby into a garbage bag after a wartime attack on a Lebanese village. The film refers to Jews as "dogs" and "pigs." The faces of Clinton and members of the Saudi royal family are often superimposed. The message, Bulliet notes, is simple: The Jews are killing your men, women and children, backed by complicit Arab rulers and the United States.""Nostradamus called it!" (Janelle Brown, Salon.com, 2001/09/17)
"Internet conspiracy theorists are having a field day after the attacks.": "This sudden interest in Nostradamus can be directly pinned to the "prediction" that has been zipping across the Net in the wake of Tuesday's tragedy: "In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two Brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb. The third big war will begin when the big city is burning." The Nostradamus-attributed "prophecy" of the World Trade Center disaster was swiftly proven to be a hoax, but no matter: The Net loves a good conspiracy theory, and even while the country mourned, the morbidly curious could also track any number of bizarre theories and observations online about Tuesday's tragedy."
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