MEMRI, February 15, 2006.

On January 31, 2006, the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra published an
article by columnist Abd Al-Rahman Ghunaym suggesting that Israel created the
avian flu virus in order to damage “genes carried only by Arabs.”

The article further speculates that Israel may have planted the virus in
East Asia in order to mislead the world, and that this is why the disease first
appeared in that remote region.

Another possibility given is that the virus was created to attack “the
yellow race – especially in China and Vietnam” which are “rising powers”
threatening “American hegemony over the world.”

The following are excerpts from the article:

“On November 16, 1998, the British newspaper Sunday Times published details
about what was later dubbed ‘the Israeli race bomb.’ It reported that Zionist
experts were trying to identify genes unique to Arabs, in order to create,
through genetic engineering, dangerous viruses and bacteria that would
exclusively attack these genes. The paper stated that the race bomb program
was being carried out in the secret Nes Ziona Institute, near Tel Aviv, which
specializes in production of chemical and biological weapons. In October 1999,
the newspaper again emphasized that the Zionist entity was increasing its
scientific efforts [to develop] the race bomb.

“At the time, no explanation was given regarding the nature of this virus that
was being genetically engineered to realize the Zionist goal of harming the
Arabs. It was also not specified what agent would be used to transmit the virus
[to the Arab population]. The word ‘bomb,’ in this context, is merely a label…
since the [attack] might involve mice, rats, birds or any other agent that can be
used to spread the disease.

The weapon, when ready, would therefore be used without declaring
war or moving troops. It would look as though the [disease] broke out naturally,
and not through [human intervention] – as though it were being spread by
natural elements and not through a despicable and cunning plot.”

Israel May Have Released the Disease in a Remote Region to Avoid Suspicion

“The question that arises today is whether the virus chosen by the Zionists for
their ‘Israeli race bomb’ is the avian flu virus. Some might hasten to object by
saying: ‘But this virus first appeared, in 2003, only in east and southeast Asia,
and spread to Asia Minor [i.e., Turkey] only in 2006!’ This is a correct
observation, but it does not rule out [the possibility that Israel first spread the
virus] in that remote region out of several motivations, including [the
following]:”

“The AIDS Virus was Developed to Serve as a ‘Race Bomb’ Against the Blacks”

“1. [Israel wished to] test the effects of the virus on the special genes of the
yellow Asian race, which is highly specialized. In addition, the yellow race -
especially in China and Vietnam – is a rising power [which threatens] the
exclusive American hegemony over the world. We cannot refrain from
mentioning that the AIDS virus was developed to serve as a ‘race bomb’
against the blacks, though after its release, it also [infected] white people, albeit
in smaller numbers.

“2. Indonesian society constitutes a particularly suitable environment for testing
the [avian flu] virus on [various] races, including [people] of Arab descent. This
is because most Indonesians are of Arab or Yemenite descent, or have mixed
blood through intermarriage with Arabs.

“3. The virus may have been released in this remote part of Asia in order to
obscure the truth by shifting the world’s attention to that distant region… and
in order to make its transmission through birds seem like a natural phenomenon.

“But the [manner in which] the virus spread directly from east to west Asia
(i.e., to Asia Minor) raises many questions. Firstly, birds do not migrate from
east to west Asia, but from the northern [regions] of the world to the southern
[regions]. If we assume that the disease spread horizontally because birds in
each region came into contact with one another, we would expect to see the
disease appear in China, Tibet, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Iran and the
Caucasus before it appears in Turkey. These are wide and extensive regions, so
how could the disease skip [over them] like that?

“Therefore, we are led to the inescapable [conclusion] that there must have
been a northern point of origin from which the virus spread, or in which it was
planted, at a time which corresponded with the southbound migration of the
birds. This point of origin may have been on the northern [shore] of the Black
Sea or in east Turkey…

“The suspicion regarding a link between the avian flu and Israel’s ‘race bomb’ is
compounded by a report from the Palestinian Authority, regarding 85,000 good
chickens that were buried [by Israel] in fields in the West Bank, and by the fact
that the Palestinian Authority was not allowed to take samples from these
chickens for testing. [Another telling fact] is what happened later – the case of a
young Arab from one of the villages around Jerusalem [who caught the
disease]. This means that the disease appeared in a new location, this time in
the West Bank, simultaneously with the discovery of a new case in northern
Iraq.”

Arafat, Too, was Assassinated by Israel With a Biological Weapon

“The American newspaper Herald Tribune published a report which truly reveals
the terrifying [nature] of ‘Israel’s race bomb’… The newspaper reported that
after years of serious and intensive research, experts from universities have
attained the capability of manufacturing the flu virus.

“The newspaper accused the [U.S.] Department of Health and Human Services
of ‘committing a very stupid and foolish act’ when it published details on the
Internet regarding the method of manufacturing this virus, which is more
dangerous than an atomic bomb. The newspaper expressed concern that the
information might fall into the hands of some ‘terrorists’ – as though an
unskilled terrorist, with no laboratory, can make any use of this information,
which is now in the hands of the Nes Ziona Institute, and as though the
Institute was not [in fact] the one who attained the capability of making the
virus, and who [persuaded] the American [Health] Department to… publish the
accurate details. [Israel's intention was] to place the blame for planting this
epidemic on the terrorists rather than on the Zionist terrorists…

“[Even] if this virus is meant to affect specific genes [carried only] by Arabs,
the damage it causes will not be restricted to the Arab regions. It will also reach
countries that we think of as ‘remote,’ and they will find themselves in the
midst of the disaster when the disease [is no longer limited to] small, isolated
danger spots, but becomes a raging epidemic.

“Tampering with Arab genes [without affecting] the white race is very difficult.
But the Zionists are capable of attempting this [risky] adventure if [they have] a
preventive treatment or a [cure for the disease]. Recall that the assassination of
Yasser Arafat was carried out by means of biological weapons. The attempt on
the life of the fighter [Hamas leader] Khaled Mash’al [likewise] involved a
biological [agent] which [is countered by] a secret antidote that only the
Zionists possess.”