We apologize if you regard this as an insult to your intelligence, but we
feel the need periodically to point out to you that the “conspiracy
theories” of Barry Chamish are total hogwash.
While we have devoted occasional postings in the past to the subject,
nevertheless there remain a small group of people, a handful of whom are
otherwise intelligent, who believe Chamish’s nonsense.
We continue to challenge the credibility of Chamish and his followers
because the failure to distance itself from Chamish has caused tremendous
damage to the Israeli Right. Its chances of affecting national policy are
all the more slim because of the attachment by some to the Chamish rantings.
Among Chamish’s followers are some for whom Chamish is a cult guru and
challenging him invariably produces an outpouring of crank email and
hysterics. No doubt this posting will be no exception.
We will not review here the entire body of “evidence” produced by Chamish
to support his “theories”, although we have reviewed parts of it elsewhere.
We will simply summarize briefly what the situation is:
Chamish is a certified and certifiable crackpot. He has devoted most of
his career to documenting UFO abductions. If you do not believe me, do a
search of the web for Chamish and UFOs or space aliens.
Chamish is a great believer in silly conspiracy theories. He believes a
conspiracy of the Council on Foreign Relations, a US foreign policy forum,
apparently together with space aliens, runs the world and manipulates
everyone. Among CFR agents are Netanyahu and Jacob Frankel and Daniel Pipes
(and no doubt myself as well). CFR conspiracies are the calling card of the
American lunatic Right, those people who join militias and blow up Oklahoma
City and support neonazi organizations, and believers in CFR conspiracies
have been denounced as “kooks” by Rush Limbaugh.
Chamish claims to have “evidence” not only that Rabin was murdered by a
conspiracy of the Shin-Bet intelligence services together with Shimon Peres,
but that Peres also murdered John F. Kennedy Jr, downed the Egyptian Air
jet, and was involved in assorted other cabals.
Chamish’s standard of evidence and standard of proof are those of the
National Enquirer.
Chamish has not produced a shred of evidence that anyone other than Yigal
Amir was involved in the murder of Rabin nor that there was any conspiracy.
Someone forgot to inform Yigal Amir that he was a mere patsy and had only
fired blanks.
Chamish has at best raised “questions” and seeming inconsistencies in the
official explanation for the Rabin assassination. In all cases, these
“questions” have simple alternative explanations that have nothing to do
with conspiracies. In any case, Chamish’s “theories” are based on
presumptions far more inconsistent and questionable than anything in the
official version that he has questioned. (Such as intelligence officers
walking out of the hospital, telling their deepest secrets and national
security secrets to the first random taxi driver to come along, and said
taxi driver then calling Chamish of all people to reveal all – Chamish
having zero credentials and zero credibility – rather than a real
journalist.) In any case, asking questions about seeming inconsistencies is
not the same as producing evidence; it is how the National Enquirer proves
its stories about UFO abductions.
Yes, there is much that is rotten in the Israeli government. Yes the
Shin Bet used Avishai Raviv as an agent provocateur. Yes leftist
McCarthyists prosecuted Margalit Har-Sheffi for no reason. Yes the
government has been stonewalling questions about Raviv and delaying his
trial. None of this can be taken as supporting the Chamish “theories”.
Most people of the non-Left have dismissed Chamish as a lunatic. Among
them, Daniel Pipes and Arie Stav. A few have not, among them the otherwise
intelligent and eloquent Adir Zik of Arutz 7. This is unfortunate and
damages their credibility.
Daniel Pipes’ book about Conspiracy Theories in the Middle East is
highly recommended. Chamish’s theories are no less infantile than those
promoted in the Arab world about Zionist cabals and the Jews really
destroying the World Trade Center.
The “Root and Branch” association in Jerusalem is sponsoring a
“conference” on Chamish’s rantings this week. The date chosen I guess cause
it is close to Halloween. Sounds like something you will want to miss.
Because of Chamish’s role in discrediting the Right, some who suggested
that he is himself an agent provocateur. The jury is still out on that. In
any case, the Israeli Right will remain marginal as long as some of its
spokesmen repeat and believe Chamish "theories".