Anyone uncritically praising Osama bin Laden is a dumbass.

For the record, it wasn’t even trending on TikTok until the moral panic started. Someone made a mashup of a few randos’ posts and that went viral on X. Then, every newspaper amplified that with silly rage bait articles for old people. Then, to make matters worse, the Guardian foolishly took the letter off their site and drew it even more attention.

So, the actual story isn’t that the kids were all supporting Al Qaeda. It’s that adults took some blue check grifter’s rage bait and turned into a whole media narrative that will probably now never die.

Full text:

Page 1 In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful To the American people, Peace be upon those who follow the righteous track. Hereafter, The subject of my talk to you is the overwhelming control of capital (Var.: money) and its effect on the ongoing war between us. I direct my talk specifically to those who support real change, especially the youth. I say from the onset: Your former president warned you previously about the devastating Jewish control of capital and about a day that would come when it would enslave you; it has happened. Your current president warns you now about the enormity of capital control and it has a cycle whereby it devours humanity when it is devoid of the precepts of God’s law (Shari’a). The tyranny of the control of capital by large companies has harmed your economy, as it did ours, and that was my motivation for this talk. Tens of millions of you are below the poverty line, millions have lost their homes, and millions have lost their jobs to mark the highest average unemployment in 60 years. Your financial system in its totality was about to collapse within 48 hours had not the administration reverted to using taxpayer’s money to rescue the vultures by using the assets of the victims. As for us, our Iraq was invaded in response to pressure from capitalists with greed for black gold, and you continue to support the oppressive Israelis in their occupation of our Palestine in response to pressures on your administration by a Jewish lobby backed by enormous financial capabilities. An observer of the policies of the new administration realizes that the change is tactical and not strategic; it does not at all agree with the change you seek. There are very many indicators of this, especially concerning important matters related to your security and economy, particularly the ongoing war between us. The previous administration was successful in implicating you in these wars against us under the premise that

they are necessary for your security or according to the promise that it would be short and would finish in six days or six weeks. Six years has passed, and that administration is gone without realizing the victory. The man calling for change promised you victory in Afghanistan and set a time for withdrawal. Before the end of the set time, Petraeus, from the previous administration, came and asked for an extension of six more months. If it was Page 2 the six-day war that started by President Bush, and six years have not been enough to finish it, then the wise men should question how long would a six-month war take and whether you are able to fund a war that requires a large amount of money that weakens your economy and your dollar. For Obama to leave one-third of the soldiers in Iraq, and the statements from his administration about this, especially from Aderno, about the possibility of Obama’s ordering the return of the forces he took out of Iraq, it would have been better for him had he disagreed with the ethics of the previous administration and adopted the truth as a friend and told you that he will not withdraw from Iraq, which may not serve the US interests but it is in the interest of the large corporations. The course of the policies of the present administration in several areas clearly reveals that whoever enters the White House, even with good intentions to safeguard the peoples’ interest, is no more than a train operator. His only task is to keep the train on the tracks that are laid down by the lobbyists in New York and Washington to serve their interests first, even if it is counter to your security and economy. Any president who tries to move the train from the lobbyist’s tracks to a track for the American people’s interests will confront very strong opposition and pressures from the lobbyists. Your president described the decision by the court in favor of corporations to intervene in the political arena as a victory, but it is not [a victory] for the American people except for the big corporations. There is no doubt about it that it is a right, and it is also a right for the administration to support the oppressive Israelis for the continued occupation of our land and the killing of our brothers, marking a victory for the Jewish lobby. The president was not able to defend you against the security and economic loss. The way for change and freeing yourselves from the pressure of lobbyists is not through the Republican or the Democratic parties, but through undertaking a

great revolution for freedom: not to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein but to free the White House and to free Barack Husayn so he can implement the change you seek. It does not only include improvement of your economic situation and ensure your security, but more importantly, helps him in making a rational decision to save humanity from the harmful [greenhouse] gases that threaten its destiny. For the American youth to succeed in this change, they need to relive the history of their ancestors and the conditions in their country more than two centuries ago. They need to understand the similarities during that era and their present situation, especially in their fundamental conditions. The British Parliament sided with corporations, then against the interests Page 3 of the citizens. You have noticed the Congress’s stand with corporations against the peoples’ interests when they refused to legislate against interference in the elections by corporations. The British military governor in the United States used to have the right to appoint judges and mayors. Similarly, the corruption is deep rooted now in all higher authorities, thus giving authorities over these offices to corporations. Subsequently, the higher court adjudicated their support of political financing by corporations under such circumstances. Reading the book by the intellectual Thomas Paine helped your fathers in the revolution against the oppressors. It is useful for you to read it under the current, similar circumstances. You are in need of people like Thomas Paine to publish books pointing out the similarities between the two phases and that will have a similar effect. You also are in need of men with courage and initiative like those of your forefathers at that time when they refused to allow one company to harm the interests of the United States, a company that had a monopoly on tea and its prices. Yet there now are many companies that endanger the United States’ economy, which continues to be vulnerable to collapse and they also formulate the policies of the White House. They threw hundreds of thousands of soldiers against us and have formed an alliance with the Israelis to oppress us and occupy our land; that was the reason for our response on the eleventh.

Palestine has been under occupation for decades, and none of your presidents talked about it until after September 11 when Bush realized that your oppression and the tyranny against us were part of the reason for the attack. Then he talked about the necessity for two states. Obama is trying to address the issue with the same solutions suggested by his predecessor; they are quilting fruitless solutions not of concern to us. If you want a real settlement that guarantees your security in your country and safeguards your economy from being depleted in a manner similar to our war of attrition against the Soviet Union, then you have to implement a roadmap that returns the Palestine land to us, all of it, from the sea to the river, it is an Islamic land not subject to being traded or granted to any party. In conclusion: Be assured that we do not fight for mere killing but to stop the killing of our people. It is a sin to kill a person without proper, justifiable cause, but terminating his killer is a right. You should be aware that justice is the strongest army and security offers the best livelihood; you lost it by your own making when you supported the Israelis in occupying our land and killing our brothers in Palestine. The road to safety starts with the stopping of aggression. Page 4 Palestine shall not be seen captive for we will try to break its shackles. The United States shall pay for its arrogance with the blood of Christians and their funds. Peace be upon those who follow the righteous track.

I would like to actually read the letter but can’t find it online. Anyone got a link?

TikTok is doing anything that drives engagement. I would wager that “aggressively” means hardly or not at all in this context.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The social media platform TikTok said it is “aggressively” removing content that praises Osama bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America.”

The letter, published about a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was bin Laden’s attempt to justify the targeting and killing of American civilians.

“Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism,” TikTok Policy posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In the post, “the media” references frustration from users aimed at The Guardian, which released a statement Wednesday that it removed a “previously displayed document” that contained the translated version of bin Laden’s letter.

The news organization said it published the letter the same day that bin Laden released it — Nov. 24, 2002 — and removed it Wednesday after the transcript had been “widely shared on social media without the full context.”

A nationwide poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University, found that among voters aged 18-34, sympathy for Israelis sank from last month.

The original article contains 368 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!