What's The Difference Between Conspiracy Theories In The West And In Islam?

The difference between the crackpot theories in the West and in Islam is that those crackpot theories are hardwired into Islam--and into the Muslim media that broadcasts them:

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 arrested 150 "witches" in Gaza last year; that Islam's prophet Muhammad decreed that black dogs must die, "for they are devils"; that there is a fatwa to kill Mickey Mouse (a cartoon character), since rodents are "corrupters, steered by Satan"—considering all this, it should come as no surprise that animals are being portrayed as infidel operatives.


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.

Read the whole thing.

Not surprisingly, the West ignores these stories--and what their broadcast on Muslim media implies about the Muslim mindset.

But every Arab claim against Israel is immediately accepted by the media as fact.
What does that say about the media's mindset?

Technorati Tag: Media Bias and Islam and Muslim Media.