Home      |      Weblog      |      Articles      |      Satire      |      Links      |      About      |      Contact


Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > New Bin Laden tape calls for attacks on Israel "Palestinian issue the most important"

New Bin Laden tape calls for attacks on Israel "Palestinian issue the most important"

May 16, 2008

Terrorism: 'Palestinian issue the most important' says Bin Laden message


Rome, 16 May (AKI) - The Palestinian people's struggle for a state is ' the most important issue for the Islamic nation," said a new audio message posted to Islamist internet forums, purportedly from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

"Until sixty years go, Israel did not exist and there was only Palestine, which was snatched from the Palestinians through the force of arms," said the message, commenting on Israel's 60th anniversary.

The 10-minute message's authenticity could not be verified.

"This [the Palestinian territories] are our land and the Israelis are invaders. Your media have given a false version of history for 60 years.

"It is the Palestinians who are oppressed and this is why I am warning how dangerous it is for the media to bolster the White House and the Jewish lobby's falsehoods," the voice said.

"The attendance by Western leaders at the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of Israel shows how they support the Jews' occupation of our land," the voice continued.

"Westerners are fighting against us in the same trench as Israel. This is demonstrated by the fact that they have deployed troops in southern Lebanon in defence of the Jews."

The message also accuses US president George W. Bush and former British prime minister Tony Blair of having stolen oil from the Arabs in Iraq, showing how the West and Israel "are usurping Muslim assets."

"Jihad [holy war] is a duty to free Palestine," the message stated.

"You class Palestinian organisations as terrorist ones and impose sanctions against them. Yet, when Israelis carry out massacres of civilians you support them.

"How do you justify your collaboration with [former Israeli prime minister Menachem] Begin, who was the head of the repressive Zionist organisation responsible for carrying out the Deir Yassin massacre [of Palestinians] in 1948.

"Today they continue to persecute the Palestinian population with an embargo."

The message also criticised the peace negotiations being conducted by the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

It called for a Jihad or holy war to free the occupied Palestinian territories and urged "iron and fire" to end Israel's crippling blockade of Gaza.

Bin Laden has not been seen on video since October 2004. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2168586165

Printer-friendly version   Email this item to a friend