In a five-minute excerpt of newly-released videotape, Osama Bin Laden blames the September 11 attacks against the United States on its support for Israel. In the video, which was broadcast on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network, Bin Laden said, “Our terrorism against the United States is blessed, aimed at repelling the oppressor so that America stops its support for Israel.”
On the videotape Bin Laden also accuses the United States of having an “indescribable hatred of Islam.” The entire tape runs thirty-three minutes and will be shown on Al-Jazeera today. The tape was apparently filmed two weeks, ago, exactly three months after the terrorist attacks on America. Without revealing the source of the videotape, the Al-Jazeera television network claims that it has knowledge that Bin Laden is alive.
Since the September 11 attacks, Bin Laden has repeatedly tried to draw a connection between the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon with US policy towards Israel. While PLO leader Yasser Arafat has publicly distanced himself from Bin Laden’s comments in order not to appear in the eyes of the world as one who approves of his terrorist activity, thousands of Arabs living in the PLO areas danced in the streets as the Twin Towers in Manhattan crumbled. Since then, Arabs living under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority have held numerous rallies expressing solidarity with Bin Laden.
On the videotape Bin Laden also accuses the United States of having an “indescribable hatred of Islam.” The entire tape runs thirty-three minutes and will be shown on Al-Jazeera today. The tape was apparently filmed two weeks, ago, exactly three months after the terrorist attacks on America. Without revealing the source of the videotape, the Al-Jazeera television network claims that it has knowledge that Bin Laden is alive.
Since the September 11 attacks, Bin Laden has repeatedly tried to draw a connection between the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon with US policy towards Israel. While PLO leader Yasser Arafat has publicly distanced himself from Bin Laden’s comments in order not to appear in the eyes of the world as one who approves of his terrorist activity, thousands of Arabs living in the PLO areas danced in the streets as the Twin Towers in Manhattan crumbled. Since then, Arabs living under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority have held numerous rallies expressing solidarity with Bin Laden.