There was a suicide bombing in Turkey today. For media coverage see: Reuters, the Jerusalem Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, and MSNBC.

Two died and about six were injured when two terrorists attacked a Masonic lodge in Istanbul. None of the articles that I've seen attempt to explain why terrorists would target the Masons.

Antisemitic conspiracy theories flourish in the Muslim world. The notorious antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is widely distributed. Tied in with conspiracies involving Jews are conspiracies involving Masons.

What is significant about this bombing is that it provides direct evidence that these conspiracy theories are believed.

If the terrorists were to attack only Jewish targets, then one might argue that they were motivated to do so out of sympathy for the Palestinians, and not because they believed in the conspiracy theories. But the Masons are a social organization, and it is totally absurd to believe that they would be targeted unless the group that did so believed in the conspiracy theories.