The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
This one is a bit of a classic, it is a text that purportedly describes a Jewish plan for world domination. It is also an excellent example of literary forgery.

It was first produced in the early part of the last century by the Russian Tsar's secret police - the Okhrana.

Still going strong over a hundred years later, and widely believed around the world by right-wing lunatics and Islamic fanatics alike, despite the ample evidence as to its origins.

Proof positive of my personal theory that many people are idiots..
(anvil, Thu 1 Dec 2011, 14:59, 2 replies)

According to David Aaronovitch
in his book Voodoo Histories: The Role of Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History, the guy who introduced the Protocols to Nasser's Egypt and thus ignited modern Arab anti-Judaism/anti-Zionism (no sense calling it anti-Semitism, since Arabs are themselves Semites) was the same guy who'd introduced it to Nazism, having converted to Islam.

But then I like Hanlon's Razor:
"Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence"

i.e. Every government conspiracy ever uncovered or suspected is not the work of an evil mastermind or evil plot, but in fact is the attempt to cover up and make the best of the fact that someone somewhere fucked up spectacularly.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Thu 1 Dec 2011, 17:54, closed)

well of course,
that's what the Jewish World Domination Council would want you to believe.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Thu 1 Dec 2011, 20:21, closed)