Conspiracy alert: Is Egypt's shark-attack crisis the work of Israel?
Has the Mossad shifted its focus from disrupting Iran's nuclear program to dumping killer mako sharks in the Red Sea? Maybe, say some not-so-reliable sources
The conspiracy theory: A German woman was killed in a shark attack on Sunday near Egypt's, and four other tourists have been injured in the last week in a spate of shark incidents in the Red Sea. "This is unnatural," says Egypt's Tourism Minister Zuhair Garana. "We have no explanation." Some Egyptians think they might: Could the real culprit behind all the bloodshed be... Israel? "What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark (in the sea)... is not out of the question," said South Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shoush, according to an Egyptian news source. And on Egyptian television, a man introduced as a "famous diver" theorized that the attacking sharks were not native to the Red Sea and were being "monitored [by Israel] to attack in Egypt's waters only." In the meantime, scientists announced that a captured mako shark was responsible for some of the attacks, but warned that another man-eater may be on the loose. (Watch a Sky News report about the attacks)
The reaction: "Egyptian officials have plumbed new depths of pottiness with their latest Zionist conspiracy theory," says Dominic Waghorn in Sky News. Rather than throwing out wild theories, maybe they should "see what the shark scientists rushing to Sharm find out and then act on their advice." This fear of a "Mossad shark," says Jonathan Kay in Canada's National Post, suggests that Mossad marine biologists have somehow "bred, brainwashed, or otherwise genetically programmed" the creatures to kill Egyptians and tourists. That's a tricky proposition: "My experience with training sharks for foreign-policy purposes is that when you release them, they will just follow your boat back to port instead of going out and eating your enemies."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlands
The Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
By The Week UK Published
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?
Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
By The Week UK Published
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeys
Cartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
By The Week US Published