Despite having been repeatedly discredited since its first appearance, the "prophecy" has proved a remarkably durable antisemitic canard. It has appeared most recently as a popular Internet hoax promulgated on Usenet groups and antisemitic websites, where it is presented as authentic. On February 18, 1998, a member of the Fatah Central Committee revived this myth and mistakenly referred to Franklin as a former President of the United States.[7] Osama Bin Laden used this canard briefly in his October 2002 "Letter to the American People".[8]