In an almost unique article, Saudi columnist Hamad ?Abd al-Aziz al-?Isa writes that the Arab and Moslem press ought to can talk of conspiracy theories explaining the terrorist attacks on the United States in September. In a piece appearing in the Egyptian weekly, al-Qahira, al-?Isa reviews several common claims regarding the September 11th attacks that have been repeated throughout the Arab and Moslem press, referring specifically to articles which appeared in the Saudi Arabian al-Watan newspaper.
Regarding unnamed ?experts? who maintain that it is ?highly probable that right-wing American militias are behind this attack,? al-?Isa reminds his readers that ?the only person in the world to issue a fatwa, on October 12, 1996, calling for the killing of American civilians and military personnel is one of the Afghani Arabs [Osama bin Laden]??
Another common thread throughout the Arab press regarding the identity of the September 11th terrorists is that Arab terrorists would not have had the required ?high level of technical capability in flying planes, in addition to the imagination and inventiveness?? In reaction to that claim, the Saudi columnist writes that he is ?amazed? [d]idn't Arabs try to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993? Aren't Arabs capable of flying planes? Aren't Arabs responsible for suicide operations in Southern Lebanon and in occupied Palestine? Didn't Arabs come up with the idea of hijacking and blowing up civilian planes in the late 1960s and early 1970s???
A more favored culprit in the Arab world is, as expected, Israel and the Jews. Hizbullah television, along with several other Arab media outlets, reported that on the morning of the attack 4,000 Jews were mysteriously absent from their workplaces in the World Trade Center. According to the ?item,? the Mossad planned the attack and, ?so as not to harm a single Israeli, reported to the 4,000 Israelis 'perhaps by means of the Internet' not to go to work that day.? The al-Qahira column sarcastically remarks, ?Of course, 'all' 4,000 Israelis carried out the order they were given without asking why, and also did not report it to their 460,000 colleagues? I was in shock when I
read these words??
On the other hand, all Arab media, while insisting that Arabs were not behind the World Trade Center attacks and insinuating Israeli involvement, link those same attacks to America?s ?biased [policies] towards Israel.? Writes al-?Isa, ?My small brain is incapable of linking this? [with the] claim that it is reasonable to assume that this terror attack was carried out by extremist American militias!?
Finally, attacking the all-too-common Arab exultation over the deaths of so many Americans, paradoxically expressed y precisely by those who say that Arabs had nothing to do with it, al-?Isa writes: ?In my opinion, the success of the terrorist action is a 'tax' paid by the U.S. and the good, yes, 'good', and peaceful, yes, 'peaceful', American people, because of their civilized treatment of anyone, without exception, who comes to the U.S. legally? every tourist, even if he looks like an [Islamic] fundamentalist like myself, could have toured the White House, the Capitol buildings, the Supreme Court and the FBI building? 'extremist' Islamic preachers curse the U.S. on its own home soil without being harmed - something I witnessed personally??
Regarding unnamed ?experts? who maintain that it is ?highly probable that right-wing American militias are behind this attack,? al-?Isa reminds his readers that ?the only person in the world to issue a fatwa, on October 12, 1996, calling for the killing of American civilians and military personnel is one of the Afghani Arabs [Osama bin Laden]??
Another common thread throughout the Arab press regarding the identity of the September 11th terrorists is that Arab terrorists would not have had the required ?high level of technical capability in flying planes, in addition to the imagination and inventiveness?? In reaction to that claim, the Saudi columnist writes that he is ?amazed? [d]idn't Arabs try to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993? Aren't Arabs capable of flying planes? Aren't Arabs responsible for suicide operations in Southern Lebanon and in occupied Palestine? Didn't Arabs come up with the idea of hijacking and blowing up civilian planes in the late 1960s and early 1970s???
A more favored culprit in the Arab world is, as expected, Israel and the Jews. Hizbullah television, along with several other Arab media outlets, reported that on the morning of the attack 4,000 Jews were mysteriously absent from their workplaces in the World Trade Center. According to the ?item,? the Mossad planned the attack and, ?so as not to harm a single Israeli, reported to the 4,000 Israelis 'perhaps by means of the Internet' not to go to work that day.? The al-Qahira column sarcastically remarks, ?Of course, 'all' 4,000 Israelis carried out the order they were given without asking why, and also did not report it to their 460,000 colleagues? I was in shock when I
read these words??
On the other hand, all Arab media, while insisting that Arabs were not behind the World Trade Center attacks and insinuating Israeli involvement, link those same attacks to America?s ?biased [policies] towards Israel.? Writes al-?Isa, ?My small brain is incapable of linking this? [with the] claim that it is reasonable to assume that this terror attack was carried out by extremist American militias!?
Finally, attacking the all-too-common Arab exultation over the deaths of so many Americans, paradoxically expressed y precisely by those who say that Arabs had nothing to do with it, al-?Isa writes: ?In my opinion, the success of the terrorist action is a 'tax' paid by the U.S. and the good, yes, 'good', and peaceful, yes, 'peaceful', American people, because of their civilized treatment of anyone, without exception, who comes to the U.S. legally? every tourist, even if he looks like an [Islamic] fundamentalist like myself, could have toured the White House, the Capitol buildings, the Supreme Court and the FBI building? 'extremist' Islamic preachers curse the U.S. on its own home soil without being harmed - something I witnessed personally??