The release of the Panama Papers on Sunday was one of the biggest data dumps in history. The Papers, which contain over 11 million documents, appear to implicate dozens of political and business leaders in the unethical and illegal use of tax havens.
But not everyone's buying it. A media mogul in Egypt declared on Monday that the Papers were a big conspiracy. In the Arabic Twitterverse, others seemed to agree with him.
"Behind every 'leak' from the West there's a Zionist conspiracy," remarked user @bader_alamer:
وراء كل تسريب غربي .. خطة صهيونية !
— بدر العامر (@bader_alamer) April 5, 2016
(Someone quickly replied, "Behind every dumb tweet is someone like you!")
A Twitter user with the handle @Kassab30Mah posted this status: "The Panama Papers... a plot from the International Muslim Brotherhood... Traitors."
#وثائق_بنما_ .. مؤامرة من التنظيم الدولي للإخوان .. خونة ..
— صيدلي/محمود ﻛﺴﺎﺏ (@Kassab30Mah) April 4, 2016
Another user wrote, "Why don't we at least have the right to check [the papers] and verify their accuracy? Or is it that we have to believe whatever information anyone with blonde hair and blue eyes releases?"
@SultanAljumeri
— عبدالله عبدالرحمن (@wqwq3322) April 5, 2016
أليس معنا حق أن نشكك فيها ونرتاب من صحتها ؟!!
فكل من نشر معلومة وكان شعره أشقرا ولون عيونه زرق لازم نصدقه
Saudi Arabia citizen Abdulaziz al Tamimi said, "The objective of these leaks is to harm coalition leaders, to them we say die in your rage! You won't get anything from this nonsense except our adherence to our leaders!"
من أهداف هذه التسريبات الاساءه لقادة التحالف ولهم نقول موتوا بغيظكم فلن تزيدنا هذه الترّهات الاّتمسكاًبقادتنا#التحالف_الإسلامي#وثايق_بنما
— Abdulaziz al Tamimi (@aals099) April 4, 2016
In some parts of the Twitterverse, though, cooler heads prevailed. "Any scandal that affects [Arab leaders], their kids, their wives, or their grandkids is a dirty plot to smear their perfect image," wrote one user.
Another (below) wrote soberly: "In the West they punish those involved with the Panama papers. In the Middle East we defend them and talk about the conspiracy and fishy timing and whatever else to escape from responsibilities."
في الغرب يقومون بمعاقبة المتورطين ب #وثائق_بنما
— Joumana Gebara (@JoumanaGebara) April 5, 2016
في الشرق يدافعون عن المتورطين ويتكلمون عن #مؤامرة وتوقيت مريب وغيره للهروب من المسؤولية
--HS
