Haaretz contributes to worldwide anti-semitism again

Ha'aretz has a very peculiar story:

Microbiologists in Israel are preparing for the potential arrival of tourists infected with a lethal fungus, which caused several deaths in the United States and whose source has been linked to an Israeli laboratory in a U.S. report.

The airborne fungus called Cryptococcus gatti has sparked panic worldwide since it was the cause of several deaths on the United States' West Coast.

As panic ensued due to the potential lethal scope of the fungus, last week an American journalist presented a theory that linked Israel to the spread of the fungus.

According to the report, the source of the fungus was in labs where the fungus was being researched in the United States, as well as in the Nes Tziona Biological Institute in Israel.

The report also linked an Israeli American scientist, Dr. Joseph Moshe, to the spread of the fungus.

Moshe was in the media spotlight last year when he was arrested in California last summer for threatening White House officials, after engaging in a police car chase. According to the U.S. media, Moshe researched the fungus in a California lab before his arrest.

Why doesn't Ha'aretz mention the source of this bizarre conspiracy theory?

It came from Truthout, a far left publication. The writer is also a known conspiracy theorist. He seems to love to quote unconfirmed reports and unnamed sources to link this person with not only this fungus but also other diseases.

There is indeed a respected, retired Israeli microbiologist named Moshe Bar-Joseph. He has nothing to do with this nut named Joseph Moshe who allegedly claims to be a Mossad bioscientist and may (or may not) have called up radio shows saying that the H1N1 vaccine is a bioweapon. As far as I can tell, no one has confirmed that Joseph Moshe is anything more than a crazy person who was arrested last August after a high-profile police chase, possibly after making threats against the president. Conspiracy theorists apparently combined the two together.

Ha'aretz, by giving these wild theories a major public airing without doing a modicum of research, has given anti-semites their best ammunition of all. Now, Palestinian Arab websites are already writing headlines that the Mossad is behind this deadly fungus, and within a day or two it will be believed as fact by the confluence of anti-semites and Arabs.

This is the worst kind of irresponsible journalism, because it ultimately could cost lives.