Al-Ahram’s main headline today was “Israel Claims: Discoverer of Nile, Jew!” The article represents a conspiracy theory floating in the Arab world that falsely alledges that Jews want to control the Nile and restrict Egypt’s access to it.
Al-Ahram is Egypt’s most widely circulated daily newspaper with approximately 1 million copies distributed everyday. The article, published today, has spread like wildfire already appearing on many other websites in the Arab world.
The article, originally meant to be written about Lake Victoria and the headwaters of the Nile, was instead turned into a tirade against the Jews. The word Jew is transposed with Israel throughout the article, in so that they become synonymous. The opening of the article begins with a rant on how Israel is once again making false claims even though nowhere in this article is an actual Israeli quoted. The ‘facts’ the author has reprinted are pure hearsay and speculation.
While visiting Lake Victoria the author claims that other tourists at the location informed her that they had heard that the discoverer of Lake Victoria, John Speke, had Jewish origins. The way it is written, the article implies that in the minds of Jews discovery equals ownership. To the author this implication is unacceptable, the Jews cannot claim they had anything to do with one of Egypt’s most cherished national treasures.
In reality, John Speke was a British nationalist who named the lake he discovered after England’s Queen Victoria. He has no known Jewish origins. However, the fact that the mere mention of a Jew discovering anything of importance in the Arab world leads to outrage is a demonstration of underlying anti-Semitism. Not to mention that the entire tirade was based on complete hearsay.
The author then continued on to visit the Blue Nile Waterfalls in Ethiopia. There they remarked at the mass number of tourists (the waterfalls are one of Ethiopia’s main tourist attractions) and in response were horrified to learn that the last ‘important’ tourist had been Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Foreign Minister. The author makes clear note of the fact that the informers had “replied with pride and confidence” that Lieberman had visited, as if they should have instead been ashamed.
The author perverts Lieberman’s visit to the falls turning it into an accusation of Israel/Jews trying to control the Nile. They claim that Lieberman is in talks with the Ugandan government to build a dam which would stem water to the Egyptian’s Nile. This accusation is pure speculation and the author does not even attempt to provide any sources.
This conspiracy theory is just another take on the age-old conspiracy theory that Jews want to take over the world.The author even goes as far as to say, “What are they hiding up their sleeve?” because apparently in their mind the sneaky Jews are planning secretly against Egypt.
The author’s solution to this ‘planning’ on the Jews’ part is to strengthen Egypt’s ties with Uganda in Ethiopia because the Jews have snuck in and gained influence in these countries without being countered. The author is filled with fear and anxiety that Israel/Jews will ever have an influence over two of the most important countries in the Nile Basin that directly affect Egypt.
