Osama bin Laden’s Letter to America Goes Viral

Remember when we used to travel without having to remove our shoes in the airport security line? That all ended on Sept 11, 2001 when Osama bin Laden spearheaded the largest terrorist attack in America when terrorists crashed two planes into the Twin Towers in New York City and a third plane crashed into the Pentagon (a fourth plane was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania). Three thousand people were murdered and after ten years of being at the top of the US most wanted list, Bin Laden was found and killed by US special forces at his compound in Pakistan in May 2011.

But there is a new generation who never experienced life before this increase in security. For them, removing shoes and tossing our bottles of water before passing through the metal detector is normal. And many of them don’t know who Osama Bin Laden is.

Shortly after the attack on 9/11 Bin Laden circulated a letter that strongly criticized the US and their governmental support of Israel. He described America as the devil and explained that America and others who support Israel are committing a heinous crime that must be paid for.

"Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its price, and pay for it heavily." His claimed that this “crime” justified the murder of American civilians.

Over 20 years later, this letter is recirculating, and more chilling than its contents is the reaction of young Americans today. The letter has gone viral on social media with over 14 million views. Some people described it as a "revelation", stating “Osama bin Laden was right.”

Another TikToker claims that the attacks committed by terrorists are justified. "It's actually so mind-blowing to me that terrorism has been sold as this idea to the American people…that this group of people, this random group of people, just suddenly wakes up one day and just hates you…it doesn't make sense."

Another TikToker critical of the American government said of the letter, “If we’re going to call Osama bin Laden a terrorist, so is the American government.” Her video had over 100,000 views.

Young social media influencers are redefining terrorism, casting the terrorist as victim.

How can a terrorist responsible for murdering thousands of people be espoused as someone to sympathize with and even revere?

Imran Ahmed, the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate believes Tiktok is indoctrinating youth. He stated that TikTok encourages high engagement at any cost. The platform “is utterly ruthless about whether it uses hate, disinformation, or positive content to keep you addicted. The smart takes aren’t the ones that succeed. It is the dumb takes that get the most virality on a platform like TikTok.”

Ahmed studies the increase of conspiracy theories amid young people and shared with CNN that TikTok “claims to be an entertainment machine” but is actually “an indoctrination machine.” He continued, “We have no visibility nor any control over the algorithms that are shaping the minds of young people in America today.”

David Kaufman, fellow at the Tel Aviv institute, explains that “this would actually be funny if it wasn't so dangerous.”

Kaufman describes a 27-year-old woman in Los Angeles who is a lifestyle influencer on TikTok. After stumbling upon Osama bin Laden’s letter, she now “understands” the war between Israel and Hamas. Kaufman states:

Why Israel the bad guy, and why Hamas is righteous. Why we need to free Palestine from the river to the sea. Why we are in the midst of a genocide. She understands it all because she found a 21- year-old manifesto from none other than Osama Bin Laden. What she fails to remember is that Osama was the architect for the most horrendous example of terroristic mass murder in the history of the western world. When she says ‘I promote Islamic Jihad’ she forgets that Islamic Jihad would also apply to her. Islamic Jihad is not about going to a candy store and saying I’m going to take a few pieces of the antisemitism but I’m going to leave the homophobia and anti-feminism behind. When you promote Islamic Jihad you are promoting the whole bag. It's a perfect example of everything that is going wrong right now and my only hope is that the new cycle will wash this through very fast.

The popularity of bin Laden’s letter shows that it doesn’t matter how flagrantly Hamas exposes their mission to destroy Israel, America and all Jews; many are not hearing the message.

TikTok made a statement saying that content that promotes this letter “clearly violates our rules of supporting any form of terrorism. We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it goes into our platform.”

The future feels bleak when American flags are being torn down on campuses, and American women mindlessly claiming their alliance with Hamas (who would have no problem gang raping them and chopping off their limbs) are circulating. The climate of hate in America has reached an all-time low and there is no telling where it can go. It’s time to wake up and speak out against hatred. Get activated, whether it’s through spiritual resistance and strengthening your Jewish identity, or through physical activism. Everyone can do something to help.