'Simpsons' Behind Arab Spring

The Arab Spring was predicted 10 years ago by The Simpsons, according to bizarre claims aired on an Egyptian TV channel. The mad-cap claims centre around a military-themed episode of the US show which features a flag similar to that of the Syrian opposition. The episode, aired in 2001, which features bombs dropping on Middle Eastern targets shows a flag similar to that used used by the Syrian rebel fighters.

Speaking on Tahrir TV, Rania Bawady told viewers:"The video you are about to see shows animated figures dancing, flying airplanes, and dropping bombs on what must be Syria, because there are other animated figures below in Arab garb, and the Syrian [opposition] flag appears on one of the vehicles. How it reached this animated video nobody knows, and this has aroused a debate on the social networks."

"This is from 2001 – before there was such a thing called the Syrian opposition," she continued. "The flag was created before the events took place. That’s why people are saying on Facebook that this is a conspiracy.This raises many question marks about what happened in the Arab Spring revolutions and about when this global conspiracy began."

Of course, Bawady manages to completely ignore the fact that the flag also vaguely resembles an Iraqi flag - a country bombed by the US three years earlier. Never let logic get in the way of a good conspiracy.