The Hasbara Symphony Orchestra Goes Full Crazy

Unhinged conspiracy theories have become the price of admission to the toxic cult

The conspiracy theories being spouted by the Hasbara Symphony Orchestra are getting more unhinged by the day.

Take for example the case of Alonso Gurmendi, the respected Peruvian historian of international law currently at the London School of Economics (LSE), whose work and analysis has been a key resource in understanding the multiple dimensions of the Gaza Genocide.

Gurmendi’s great-grandfather emigrated from Germany to Peru in 1903. His grandfather was born in Peru, and like most Peruvians lived his entire life in that country.

Alonso’s full name is in fact Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg. He consistently provides his full name in professional profiles, such as on the websites of LSE, King’s College London, University of Oxford, and LinkedIn. He also routinely uses his full name in his impressive record of publications.

This easily verifiable documentary evidence notwithstanding, the Orchestra’s groupies have recently decided that Alonso in fact deliberately conceals the Dunkelberg part of his surname.

Building on this fantasy, Israel flunkies, acting in concert, constructed a conspiracy theory that Alonso conceals his full name because his grandfather was actually born in Germany, was a devoted Nazi, and only arrived in Peru after Germany’s defeat in 1945, narrowly escaping capture thanks to the so-called ratline that helped prominent Nazis escape to South America.

Naturally, this is also presented as definitive proof that Alonso is himself a Nazi. Why else would he conceal his real name that is all over the internet?

Needless to say, since unlike Israeli Jews Alonso can’t produce a family tree demonstrating that his ancestors have been the sole inhabitants of Peru for the past 3,000 years, or furnish a deity that promised Peru to the Dunkelbergs and to them alone, he’s also not a real Peruvian, but actually a German.

This is the level of crazy we’ve reached. Deranged hysteria has become the default mode.

The good news is that these half-baked conspiracy theories are a sign of the Orchestra’s utter desperation. Its musicians understand that, apart from reliable season ticket holders like the New York Times and the Bibi Si!, the world has long since lost its appetite for their cacophonous concertos, and even keeping the band together is becoming a growing challenge.

Think of it as a cult whose leader has to make ever-more outlandish prophecies to maintain a following, but in doing so also increases doubts about his sanity.

I recently encountered a similar incident myself. In response to a post during Israel’s war against Iran in which I noted that “I have yet to see anyone in mainstream media make the obvious point that Israel has a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East and has gone to war in order to preserve it”, a Death Squad State groupie responded, “You were eating caviar at the Iranian embassy in Damascus while they genocided the Syrian people.”

I’ve never been invited to an Iranian embassy, whether in Damascus or anywhere else, let alone to be offered caviar. But that’s precisely the point of the attempted deflection. If it isn’t a fabrication concocted out of thin air, it will no longer be considered for inclusion in the Orchestra’s hysterical repertoire. Unless the tempo is goebbelissimo forte fortissimo, it will not be played.

The disconnect with reality has become not only complete, but is today a requirement for maintaining membership in the utterly toxic cult devoted to the genocidal apartheid regime.