Amid the escalation of the conflict Israel and the radical Palestinian group Hamas, TikTok users from USA suddenly became carried away by the leader’s “Letter to America” Al-Qaeda (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) Osama bin Laden, in which he criticized US policy in the Middle East and gave justification for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Video bloggers urged viewers to read the letter and said that the words of one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists “opened their eyes.” The trend sparked widespread outrage and resulted in TikTok deleting the videos.

Bloggers said bin Laden’s letter made them take a fresh look at the events of 2001 and American politics

“You all need to stop what you’re doing now and read ‘Letter to America,'” stated American blogger Lynette Adkins. Her video received almost 100 thousand likes. “I just read Letter to America and my outlook on life will never be the same, the way I saw this country will never be the same. (…) Over the last 20 minutes, all my views on everything that is happening in the world, everything I believed in, has changed,” assured another popular blogger from the USA, who was contacted on TikTok signed more than one million users. Another blogger admittedthat bin Laden’s letter brought her to tears.

What does Osama bin Laden’s letter to America say?

“Letter to America” by Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), was published in 2002, including by the American media. In it, bin Laden justified the terrorist attacks that al-Qaeda carried out on September 11, 2001 in the United States and which claimed the lives of almost three thousand people.

Bin Laden claimed in the letter that the group is at war with the United States because the country has “attacked and continues to attack” the Middle East. In particular, the terrorist leader criticized Washington for supporting Israel and pointed out that the United States played a role in the fact that “the British gave Palestine to the Jews.” Bin Laden called the creation and existence of Israel a crime.

The leader of the terrorist organization in the letter condemns the United States for the presence of American military bases in the Middle East and, in general, for its activities in this region. He accuses America of stealing the Middle East’s resources, including oil. Bin Laden’s letter holds American civilians collectively responsible for their government’s actions in the Middle East.

A message from the leader of the terrorist organization that carried out the world’s largest terrorist attack in 2001 and made September 11 a black day on the American calendar began circulating on TikTok in mid-November. According to media reports, before the social network began to take action against such videos, a video with the hashtag #lettertoamerica (“Letter to America”) collected about two million views. “This is the craziest thing I’ve read lately”, “Everyone should read it”, “It explains a lot. I guarantee this letter will blow your mind.” spoke out tiktokers about bin Laden’s message to Americans.

Another blogger was more categorical: she published a meme in which she agreed with bin Laden. True, when the girl was criticized because of this video, she assured that she did not justify the September 11 attacks, but only agreed with the al-Qaeda leader that the American government is “evil and vicious.”

Most bloggers read bin Laden’s message on the British website The Guardian, where it was published in November 2002. However, on November 15, at the height of the trend, this letter was removed from the site. After this, some TikTokers began publishing screenshots of the letter and links to it on their profiles. One of these videos received more than six thousand comments. “It’s crazy that we’re just now finding out about this. The American government sincerely believes that it is untouchable and does not learn anything from the past,” read one of the most popular comments, receiving 16 thousand likes. Another user from the US wondered why this document “is not shown to every American.”

What happened in the USA on September 11, 2001

The attacks of September 11, 2001, also known as 9/11, were four terrorist attacks carried out in the United States on one day by members of Al-Qaeda (a terrorist group banned in Russia). 19 representatives of this terrorist organization hijacked four passenger planes. Two aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York. One plane crashed into the Pentagon building, which is located near Washington. The fourth fell in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought with terrorists. The plane is believed to have been heading toward the Capitol building.

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, about 400 of whom were emergency services workers. Collectively, these attacks rank among the largest terrorist attacks in world history.

Bloggers distributing bin Laden’s letter were criticized on social networks and the White House

The TikTok bloggers’ statements have met with serious criticism. Other TikTokers, as well as X and Reddit users, accused those who distributed bin Laden’s letter of justifying terrorism. “He was a terrorist, he killed thousands of people… He tried to apply Sharia law to America, which has no logic,” “I never thought that the day would come when people would justify terrorism and the actions of bin Laden,” were indignant They.

Users also noticed that the group leader’s message attracted the attention of bloggers with pro-Palestinian views. “Anti-Semitism does not help the Palestinians in any way and Palestine“, the user addressed such tiktokers Xspeaking out in support of Palestine.

Since bin Laden’s letter on TikTok was encouraged to be read mainly by young bloggers, the ire of critics turned towards the entire Generation Z (people born from the mid-90s to the early 2010s). “This generation is distinguished by outstanding stupidity, and this cannot be corrected. It will only get worse,” “They were born after 9/11 and will now believe that the terrorists were good guys,” “History will be rewritten by a generation that never taught it,” the zoomers criticized X. Some commentators noted that bloggers who discovered bin Laden’s letter missed parts of it where the terrorist blames all Americans for the actions of their government, and also expresses anti-Semitic views and criticizes American society for its “immorality.”

Many commentators ridiculed bloggers who were carried away by writing and sarcastically assumedthat next time young tiktokers will become seriously interested in the ideas of Adolf Hitler.

If you kids think bin Laden is making a strong case, wait until I tell you about the former art student, vegetarian with the iconic mustache, whose manifesto on the “Zionist oppression” of his people sparked a “worldwide movement”

David Burge

user X

TikTok soon responded to the popularity of the letter: a platform representative said that the social network is actively removing videos promoting bin Laden’s message, as these videos violate the company’s rules regarding the prohibition of endorsing terrorism. Scandalous trend commented even in the White House: Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates called such videos an insult to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

There can be no justification for popularizing the disgusting, evil and anti-Semitic lies that the al-Qaeda leader spread shortly after carrying out the worst terrorist attack in American history.

Andrew Bates

Deputy White House Press Secretary

The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has caused a split in the media space

The next escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has been going on for many years, began on October 7, 2023. On this day the press service Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedthat Palestinian radicals from the Gaza Strip launched rocket attacks on Israeli territory. Israeli army responds started operation in the Gaza Strip. Military-Political Cabinet of Israel announced about the country going into a state of war.

The Gaza Strip reports heavy casualties during the fighting: according to the enclave’s data as of November 14, the number of deaths in Gaza as a result of Israeli army strikes exceeded 11.5 thousand. At the end of October at UN statedthat about 70 percent of those killed in the Gaza Strip were women and children. Israeli side didn’t agree with this data. At the same time, in Israel the official number More than 1.2 thousand people died as a result of the Hamas attack.

The conflict became one of the main topics on the Internet and led to fierce discussions and divisions in the media space. Users paid special attention to show business stars, especially Western ones. They harshly condemned celebrities who did not speak out about the conflict. Those stars who outlined their position were also criticized: for example, the singer Madonnaactor Dwayne Johnson and actress Ashley Tisdale pro-Palestinian users condemned for supporting Israel and condemning the Hamas attack.

>11.5

thousands of people

killed in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza Strip authorities

At the same time, some public figures who chose a neutral position were also ostracized. In particular, such a reaction was caused by the actress’s statements Angelina Jolie, which criticized both the Hamas attack and Israeli strikes on Gaza. In addition, users called for mass unfollowing of singer Selena Gomez, who statedthat her statements about the conflict will not affect its course in any way.