by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Hudson New York<\/em><\/p>\n Conspiracy theories emanating from the Muslim world are nothing new \u2014 a decade ago, Israel was accused of\u00a0perpetrating the strikes of 9\/11<\/a>, today it is accused of\u00a0perpetrating the bombings of a Coptic church<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 they tend to be dismissed in the West.<\/p>\n A close examination of these theories, however, reveals pathological trends that need to be acknowledged \u2014 especially by Western leaders who stubbornly interact with the Muslim world under the assumption that all Muslims “think just like us.”<\/p>\n Consider, for starters, those conspiracy theories dealing with\u00a0subversive animals<\/a>:<\/p>\n As the reader mulls over the plausibility of these charges, here is the latest example, from just last month. According to released Gitmo inmate\u00a0Walid Muhammad Hajj<\/a>, the Jews at the base cast “spells” on the Muslim inmates \u2014 including through the use of bewitched birds and a phantom feline that tried to sodomize Walid:<\/p>\n The most common method to wear down the brothers [Muslim inmates] was witchcraft\u2026. There were, of course, Jews among the [staff of] the Guantanamo Base, and they would set traps for the guys\u2026. I remembered an incident with a guy who sat next to me in the morning. When they brought the milk, he began to urinate into the milk. I said to him: “Why are you urinating in the milk?” That’s when we knew that he was under a spell. After he had recovered a little, after we read Koranic verses to him, he said to me: “The birds on the barbed wire would talk to me, and tell me to urinate in the milk”\u2026. Once, when I was sleeping \u2014 on the floor, not on a bed \u2014 I suddenly felt that a cat was trying to penetrate me. It tried to penetrate me again and again. I recited the kursi verse again and again [Koran 2:255] until the cat left.<\/p>\n Considering that the Koran depicts talking ants and birds, vouches for the power of sorcery, and has an entire chapter dedicated to the Jinn (Sura 72); that Hamas\u00a0arrested 150 “witches” in Gaza<\/a>\u00a0last year; that Islam’s prophet Muhammad decreed that\u00a0black dogs must die<\/a>, “for they are devils”; that there is a\u00a0fatwa<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0kill Mickey Mouse<\/a>\u00a0(a cartoon character), since rodents are “corrupters, steered by Satan” \u2014 considering all this, it should come as no surprise that animals are being portrayed as infidel operatives.<\/p>\n Rather, the surprise lies in who is making and disseminating these stories. After all, conspiracy theories are not the sole domain of the Muslim world; the West has its share of crackpot theories. Yet, they are not in the mainstream. Conversely, far from coming from a marginalized periphery, all of the aforementioned animal accusations were either made or disseminated by “authoritative” sources in the Muslim world: Spying squirrels, Iranian state-sponsored news; rampaging rats and pigs, Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority media; tourism-destroying shark, an Egyptian official; spying vulture awaiting Sharia justice, Saudi media.<\/p>\n Consider the most recent example of Gitmo witchery. The problem is not that one Walid Muhammad Hajj believes this, but that Al Jazeera \u2014 by far, the highest rated news network in the Arab world \u2014 aired it on prime time. That the suit-and-tie host was very sympathetic, never once casting doubt on Hajj’s narrative, speaks volumes. (Incidentally, this Gitmo story was aired on the same show that earlier provided\u00a0Muhammad al-Awwa<\/a>\u00a0a platform to\u00a0incite<\/a>Egypt’s Muslims against its Christian minority \u2014 thereby contributing to the latest\u00a0slaughter of Copts<\/a>\u00a0in Egypt on New Year’s Eve.)<\/p>\n The point here is simple: if the media \u2014 especially news and current affairs programs \u2014 reflect the concerns of their society, imagine if a prime-time CNN program hosted someone who earnestly accused people of witchcraft, talking birds, and rapist cats \u2014 all to a sincerely concerned host. What would that suggest about the American mindset?<\/p>\n What does it suggest about the Muslim mindset?<\/p>\n \u00a92011 Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York Conspiracy theories emanating from the Muslim world are nothing new \u2014 a decade ago, Israel was accused of\u00a0perpetrating the strikes of 9\/11, today it is accused of\u00a0perpetrating the bombings of a Coptic church\u00a0\u2014 they tend to be dismissed in the West.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[225,227],"tags":[1051,1039,1027,431,1044,1043,30,1060,1077,58],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-109","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1457,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/conspiracy-theory-shuts-down-great-pyramid\/","url_meta":{"origin":3853,"position":0},"title":"Conspiracy Theory Shuts Down Great Pyramid","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch According to the\u00a0Associated Press, \"Egypt's antiquities authority closed the largest of the Giza pyramids Friday following rumors that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies on the site at 11:11 A.M. on Nov. 11, 2011\u2026. The closure follows a string of unconfirmed reports in local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1370,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/top-muslims-condemn-ground-zero-mosque-as-a-zionist-conspiracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3853,"position":1},"title":"Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a ‘Zionist Conspiracy’","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media In a recent\u00a0article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5th, the Egyptian newspaper\u00a0Al Masry Al Youm\u00a0reported that none other than Al Azhar \u2014 one of Sunni Islam's most authoritative institutions \u2014 agrees. My translation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7096,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-past-and-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":3853,"position":2},"title":"The Past and the Future","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 Last November Raymond Ibrahim was interviewed by Egyptian reporter Sherif Awad.\u00a0 The interview appeared in several Egyptian magazines and websites, as well as American ones, such as the\u00a0Westchester Guardian. \u00a0The interview follows: Awad: Can you tell us about your family and their profession and how and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2007,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-muslims-are-more-radical-than-islamists\/","url_meta":{"origin":3853,"position":3},"title":"When Muslims Are More ‘Radical’ than Islamists","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media What are the differences between the traditional Muslim and the so-called \"Islamist\"? As\u00a0words dealing with Islam\u00a0continue to morph and multiply, it is important to differentiate, for there are real, if subtle, differences. A recent\u00a0Arabic talk show\u00a0on Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak's trial sheds some light.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6212,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/how-dare-you-the-supremacist-nature-of-muslim-grievances\/","url_meta":{"origin":3853,"position":4},"title":"How Dare You?! The Supremacist Nature of Muslim ‘Grievances’","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/ Jerusalem Post In 2012 in Pakistan, as Christian children were\u00a0singing carols inside their church, Muslim men from a nearby mosque barged in with an axe, destroyed the furniture, desecrated the altar, and beat the children.\u00a0 Their justification for such violence?\u00a0 \u201cYou are disturbing our prayers\u2026.\u00a0How dare\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/islamic_rage_boy.jpg?fit=400%2C219&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1454,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/islams-predictability-apostasy-execution-and-lies\/","url_meta":{"origin":3853,"position":5},"title":"Islam’s Predictability: Apostasy, Execution, and Lies","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch As one ponders the fate of Yousef Nadarkhani, the Iranian pastor on death row for refusing to renounce Christianity, it is well to reflect that, for all the talk that Islam is perpetually \"misunderstood,\" it is actually immensely predictable and consistent; not only do its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Iran"","block_context":{"text":"Iran","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/iran\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3854,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions\/3854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n