Special Report January 08, 2002
A New Antisemitic Myth in the Arab Press: The September 11 Attacks Were Perpetrated by the Jews
Introduction:
Since September 11, the Arab media have claimed that Jews perpetrated the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Promoting this new myth are high- ranking public officials and columnists in the government and non-government press in Arab countries.
In an attempt to deflect blame from the Arab-Muslim suspects in the attacks, the media have floated a number of ideas on the identities of the perpetrators. According to Arab perceptions, the attacks were carried out by those who stood to gain the most from them. Also examined was the question of who had the capability to carry out such an operation.
In the articles reviewed in this report, the conclusions point directly at the Jews. These conclusions are supported by various forms of evidence, further buttressed by timeworn, long-"substantiated" antisemitic myths. Thus, the papers posit guilt, substantiate their accusations, convict, and, in one case, hand down a sentence ? annihilation "as Hitler did."
I: Arabs Didn't Do It; All Evidence Against them is False
Many columnists in the Arab press disregarded FBI and media reports concerning the identities of the perpetrators, stolidly maintaining that no Arab was responsible. Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, wrote in the movement's mouthpiece Saut Al-Haqq Wa-Al-Hurriyya that it was puzzling that "the manifests of the two airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines, whose planes crashed into the Pentagon and World Trade Center, included not a single Arab? Yet three days later the FBI released the names of 19 Arab passengers, claming that they were the hijackers of the four planes."[1]
Palestinian columnist Khalil Al-Sawahri wrote in the Palestinian Authority-sponsored daily Al-Ayyam that the letter left by the hijackers was forged. "Its disseminators are the circles of Orientalists who are making efforts to tarnish the image of the Arab Muslim. [They] began with falsifying history, deceitfully falsifying and attributing to themselves the stories of prophecy [and later Islamic history] and [continued with] modern films, particularly American [films] in which Hollywood made an effort to present [Arabs] as thieves, terrorists, bandits, base, dirty, and so on?"
"The [security] apparatuses that faked the contents of the black box of the Egyptian plane downed [in October 1999] off the coast of New York, and turned Captain Al- Batouti into a suicide attacker are the same ones [now] claiming that the black boxes of the other planes [of the September 11 attacks] were destroyed and burned ? yet at the same time, they claim that they found letters [left by the terrorists] 'safe and sound.'"
"Furthermore, the will found in the luggage of the Egyptian Muhammad Atta was obviously forged ? how can a man planning to blow himself up in an operation that will fuse iron and stone focus his will on the handling of his body and rituals for washing it, when he knows that his body will turn to ashes and be scattered all over?"[2]
II: The Non-Arab Potential Suspects
Dismissing the possibility that Arabs carried out the attack did not satisfy some of the writers quoted here, and many offered their own lists of suspects. Al-Ayyam columnist Tallal 'Ouqal, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) , suggested that the Americans look "far from the Middle East," writing: "?Why can't the motive be a settling of historical accounts from World War II? Why can't the background [of the attack] be protest by those harmed by globalization; we noticed the strengthening of the spirit of their battle in Seattle, Genoa, and Athens?? Why can't the motive be linked to those harmed by the missile defense system?"[3]
In the same vein, columnist Abd Al-Jabbar 'Adwan wrote in the Saudi- owned Arabic-language London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat : "?It is known that the American government intends to push forward the missile defense shield project. China, Russia, and several other European states are opposed to this, and President Bush is not interested in their position?"[4]
Columnist Hassan M. Yussef wrote in the Syrian government daily Teshreen : "There is a possibility that this was an [act of] ancient retribution? The U.S. declared war on Japan?and used the atomic bomb for the first time against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [The bomb] killed more than 221,983 Japanese, and was the cause of the Japanese defeat and the end of the war in 1945."[5]
Some pointed their fingers at the American administration itself. For example, Al- Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Samir 'Atallah raised the possibility that the attacks on the U.S. were the product of a conspiracy led by President George W. Bush, explaining his reasoning as follows: "George W. Bush was the president who garnered the least support of all U.S. presidents throughout history. He won the election by a miniscule majority that would not have won a village council [position] in southern Egypt. His presidency was in doubt from the beginning. It was said that the poor way in which he entered the White House would divide the American nation. It was said that he is not worthy [of being president], that he is a man who takes no interest in what is happening in the world, a man who does not know the name of the president of Pakistan?"
"[But] after September 11, George W. Bush is the first president since Roosevelt with both parties behind him, with no one opposing him. He is the first president in the history of the U.S. to have received an unprecedented amount of financial, political, and military support, and to have it approved so quickly by Congress?"[6]
The Jerusalem Arabic weekly Al-Manar ran an article by Dr. Abdallah Al- Sheikh , in which the author claimed that the CIA and FBI were responsible for the September 11 attacks. Al-Sheikh offered the following evidence: "As is known, over time, the American security apparatuses turned into mighty institutions with influence in the political, economic, social, and scientific echelons, and they cannot be ignored. Similarly, they formed liaisons according to the so-called survival model, or the bureaucratic model. This model states that after the establishment of an institution ? and primarily an American security institution ? the first priority is survival, even if this leads it to cooperate with Satan. This is the dominant model in the most powerful intelligence apparatuses in the world, headed by the American CIA and FBI? The operation itself [i.e. the attacks] is characteristic of operations by these apparatuses."[7]
Columnist Mussa Hawamdeh, writing in the Jordanian government daily Al-Dustour , stated, "? We all know that there are extremist religious groups in the U.S. who believe that the coming of the Messiah is near, and who aspire to purify Americans of all their human crimes. Among them are those who believe in committing suicide in order to reach Paradise, through punishing the human race. Mass suicide of entire groups has already occurred."[8]
However, the most popular view among the Arab columnists reviewed in this report is the possibility that Israel, world Zionism, the Mossad, or, simply, the Jews carried out the attacks.
III: Israel/the Mossad/World Zionism/the Jews Did It
Syrian foreign minister Mustafa Tlass, author of The Matza of Zion, a book that depicts the infamous Damascus blood libel of 1840 as an actual event, claimed during a meeting in Damascus with a delegation from the British Royal College of Defense Studies that the Mossad planned the ramming of two hijacked airliners into the WTC towers as part of a Jewish conspiracy.[9]
Former Egyptian ambassador to Afghanistan Ahmad Al-'Amrawi told the Palestinian Islamic Jihad mouthpiece Al-Istiqlal that the Zionist movement and American intelligence organizations planned the attacks. He said the aim was both to extricate Israel from its current crisis and to give the U.S. an opening to take over the oil reserves in the Caspian Sea, thus gaining full control of the world's main oil resources.[10]
Lebanese Druse leader Walid Jumblatt < /B>told Al-Ayyam he thought "it was a large intelligence operation, behind which might be the Mossad and American intelligence, with the aim of [bringing about] a new war in the region so as to impoverish and conquer it."[11]
Sheikh Muhammad Gamei'a, formerly both Al-Azhar University's representative in the U.S. and imam of the Islamic Cultural Center and Mosque of New York City, told Al-Azhar University's unofficial web site www.lailatalqadr.com in a comprehensive interview, "All the signs indicate that the Jews have the most to gain from an explosion like that."[12]
Columnist Ahmad Al-Musallah of Al-Dustour wrote: "What happened is the work of Jewish-Israeli-American Zionism, and the act of the large Zionist Jewish mind controlling the world economically, politically, and through the media?"[13]
Rakan Al-Majali,<.B> another Al-Dustour columnist , wrote: "It is obvious that Israel is the one to gain greatly from this bloody, loathsome, and terrible terror operation, and it seeks to gain further by accusing the Arabs and Muslims of carrying it out? Only Israel does not fear that the Jews will be discovered to be behind this operation ? who inside or outside the U.S. would dare to accuse them, as any harm to them means talk of a new Holocaust? They, more than anyone, are capable of hiding a crime they carry out, and they can be certain that no one will ask them what they have done."[14]
Lebanese-Jordanian Holocaust denier Dr. Hayat Al-Huweiek 'Atiya' presented the theory based on statements made ? or not made ? by an Arab official. In Al-Dustour , she wrote: "Maybe some will think that I am hallucinating when I speak of Jewish Zionist hands behind the terrible event that struck at the U.S.? But in a lengthy interview with the Arab League representative in Paris for the [Egyptian] French-language Al-Nil television channel , [the representative] refrained from pointing directly at the Jews, because as an official he cannot do such a thing before an investigation reveals it, but he [implied] it?"[15]
Jihad Jbara wrote in the Jordanian government daily
In Iran, Majlis (Parliament) Chairman Mahdi Karrubi wondered whether the
guilty parties might have "come from the land of Afghanistan, or whether the Zionists
in Israel plotted the terror operation in order to blacken the faces of the Muslims ? or
whether the [terror] operations in America had been consolidated inside America and
reached the stage where they required suicide attackers?"[17]
The Iranian English-language daily Tehran Times
IV: Presenting the 'Evidence' in the Case
In an attempt to substantiate their accusations against the Jews, the writers made the
following arguments.
A) Jewish employees were warned not to come to work at the WTC on
September 11
This claim, quickly accepted by the Arab media as incontrovertible fact, was the most
salient "evidence" that the Jews were involved in the attacks. Syrian ambassador
to Tehran Turky Muhammad Saqr said at a conference held at the Iranian
Foreign Ministry: "Syria has documented proof of the Zionist regime's involvement in
the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S.," and that "4,000 Jews employed at the
WTC did not show up for work before the attack clearly attests to Zionist involvement
in these attacks."[19]
The conservative Iranian daily Kayhan also referred to this "fact": "It
is known that 4,000 Jews worked at the WTC in New York and that these people did
not come to work that day."[20] Raed Salah wrote in Saut Al-Haqq Wa-
Al-Hurriyya , "A suitable way was found to warn the 4,000 Jews who work every
day at the Twin Towers to be absent from their work on September 11, 2001, and this
is really what happened! Were 4,000 Jewish clerks absent [from their jobs] by
chance, or was there another reason? At the same time, no such warning reached
the 2,000 Muslims who worked every day in the Twin Towers, and therefore there
were hundreds of Muslim victims."[21] The same numbers were also cited in an
article by Syrian columnist Mu'taz Al-Khattib, who wrote in Al-Hayat
that 4,000 Jews had been absent from the WTC building at the time of the
incident.[22]
Dr. Gamal 'Ali Zahran, head of the political science faculty at Suez Canal
University, Egypt, wrote in the Egyptian government daily Al-
Ahram : "At the WTC, thousands of Jews worked in finance and the stock market,
but none of them were there on the day of the incident. Out of 6,000 killed, of 65
nationalities from 60 countries, not one was a Jew!!"[23] Egypt's Sheikh
Gamei'a told Al-Azhar University's unofficial web site, "On the news in
the U.S. it was said that 4,000 Jews did not come to work at the WTC on the day of
the incident?"[24]
Al-Manar gave further details: "The investigation of these attacks did not begin
from the proper starting point; rather, it was swept away by public opinion, shaped by
the American media which is controlled by the Jews? Why did they inform the Jews
that there was no further need for their services only three days before the attacks?
Why did they announce huge losses in the technology sector, in which most of the
employees are Jews, with offices in the trade building [WTC] ? which made the Jews
leave the place? Why did rumors spread among the Jews that the 'appointed time for
the execution of the attack' was a day off work?"[25]
However, a report by the Hizbullah television network Al-Manar ? which
according to some sources started the rumor that Jews hadn't come to work at the
WTC on September 11 ? said that when it became known that there had been an
attack on the WTC in New York, the international media, particularly the Israeli
media, exploited the incident and began to mourn the 4,000 Israelis who had worked
in the two towers. Then there was no more mention of these Israelis, as it became
clear that they hadn't even arrived for work that day.[26]
Columnist Hilmi Al-Asmar wrote in Al-Dustour : "?After fewer than
two hours of the 'Red September panic,' announcements were launched like missiles
from Israel ? announcements that danced on the wounds of the victims, which
included only two Israelis, although the Manhattan towers included a great many
Jewish companies and institutions."[27]
B) The U.S. Authorities Arrested Jews 'Rejoicing' at the Catastrophe[28]
Sheikh Gamei'a<./B> claimed that the U.S. news sources reported that "police
arrested a group of Jews rejoicing in the streets at the time of the incident?" and
stated that the news item had been hushed up immediately after it was
broadcast.[29]
Raed Salah discussed the matter in greater detail: "Is it true that the
American administration arrested five Israelis with European citizenship on suspicion
of involvement in the incident[?] They worked for a Jew in a moving company, with
forged visas, and were severely tortured during their interrogation so that they would
give details about the incident?"[30]
The Saudi Arabian government daily 'Ukkaz also addressed the
issue in an editorial, writing "Six Israelis suspected of involvement in New York and
Washington were arrested in the U.S., to be later released. This confirms our strong
suspicions about the involvement of Israel's Mossad in the ugly crime."[31]
The Egyptian opposition weekly Al-'Usbu' published the news as a
scoop, building it up somewhat and giving it the descriptive title, "True Perpetrators of
the September 11 Attacks Arrested ? Zionists with Maps of the WTC, the Pentagon,
and the White House and Large Quantities of Anthrax." The article reported that
"American security forces burst into the home of seven Israelis from Florida, arresting
them and finding in their possession large quantities of anthrax microbes and some
15 maps of the WTC, eight maps of the Pentagon, and six maps of the White
House? Some of the maps were of airplane flight paths and destinations, while
others showed wind speed and temperature?"
"Two days after the arrest of the seven Israelis, the American authorities arrested, in
Alaska, four more Israelis, and found in their possession photo enlargements of the
atomic reactor in Florida and of the Alaskan oil pipeline. They were arrested by
warrant of the American domestic security minister [sic], who reserved in revealing
the essence of their connection with the Israelis arrested in Florida?"
"As soon as the arrests of the Israelis became known to the security apparatuses, the
investigative bodies were given instructions to maintain the utmost secrecy. The
national security advisor asked that the charges not be revealed, even if it were to be
proven that Israel was responsible for what had happened?"[32]
C) The Israeli Leaders Knew of the Attacks Ahead of Time
Syrian ambassador to Tehran Turky Muhammad Saqr viewed Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's unexpected postponement of his visit to the U.S. as
"additional proof linking the Zionists with this tragedy."[33]
The Al-Manar television network also addressed the matter: "Suspicions
that Israel was involved [in the September 11 attacks] increased after the Israeli
newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth reported that the General Security Services stopped
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from going to New York, and particularly to the east
coast of the city, to participate in a 'Support for Israel' conference held by Zionist
organizations."[34]
Syrian columnist Mu'taz Al-Khatib gave another example in Al-Hayat
: "Barak's presence in the BBC's head office minutes after the explosion, at a
meeting set in advance, to speak for 30 minutes of the danger of terrorism and
chastise the 'rogue states,' particularly the Arabs?" was, he said, further proof of
Israel's involvement.[35]
D) Only the Jews/Israel had the Capability to Carry out the Attacks
Sheikh Gamei'a, who said that Jews "are the only ones capable of planning
such acts," explained his statements: "First of all, it was found that the automatic pilot
was neutralized a few minutes before the flight, and the automatic pilot cannot be
neutralized if you don't have command of the control tower.[36] Second, the black
boxes were found to contain no information; you cannot erase the information from
these boxes if you do not plan it ahead of time on the plane. Third, America has the
most powerful intelligence apparatuses, the FBI and the CIA? How did [the
perpetrators] manage to infiltrate America without their knowledge? Fourth, Jews
control decision-making in the airports and in the sensitive centers in the White
House and the Pentagon. Fifth, to date, America has presented no proof
incriminating Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaida. If we take these things into account
and look closely at the incident, we will find that only the Jews are capable of
planning such an incident, because it was planned with great precision of which
Osama bin Laden or any other Islamic organization or intelligence apparatus is
incapable ?"[37]
Orkhan Muhammad Ali wrote in Saut Al-Haqq Wa-Al-Hurriyya that
the planes had not been hijacked ? rather, they had been directed by remote control
using a system developed by a Jewish-owned company: "Airplanes can be remotely
controlled using a modern system called 'GPLS' [sic; evidently he was referring to the
Global Positioning System (GPS)]. The U.S. invested some $3.2 billion in developing
this system. Additionally, the Department of Defense collaborated with a group of
companies [called] Raytheon that specialize in developing aerial missile defense and
air traffic control systems. The air traffic control system can be activated remotely by
satellite. The moment an airplane, civilian or military, enters the system's range, the
operator can decode the signals and signs of the plane's flight system, completely
controlling it and directing it towards whatever target he wishes. Also, all the plane's
communications apparatus can be silenced. According to the unfolding of [events in]
the attacks on New York and Washington, and according to the evidence? the
planes were not hijacked; they were remotely controlled and forced to fly towards the
targets fed into [the system] by the planners. Therefore, the FBI will investigate the
president of this group of companies, whose name is Daniel Burnham, and the head
of the engineers responsible for the GPLS system whose name, Bruce Solomon,
attests that he is Jewish."[38]
The Iranian daily Kayhan also addressed the question, stating: "The Zionists
are the ones who caused the September 11 explosions; perhaps they carried out
these operations by means of remote control of the plane."[39]
Al-Dustour columnist Hilmi Al-Asmar had a similar opinion, writing
that, "Israel was the only one who could have broken into the American security
apparatus. Since its past is rife with operations and crimes [that are] far from moral, it
is willing to carry out the most monstrous crime in human history even if the victims
would be Jews?"[40]
Some writers cited the Mossad's operational capability as proof of Israel's
involvement in the attacks. Dr. Zahran of Suez Canal University
wrote in Al-Ahram : "?The scope and nature of the attacks attest to planning
and execution by an intelligence apparatus close to the CIA. No intelligence
apparatus in the world is as close to the CIA as the Israeli Mossad?"[41]
An 'Ukaz < /I>editorial read, "It is impossible to imagine executing an operation of
such scope and precision without the planners and those involved having direct
connections within the U.S., [and] full [command] of all the details and fine points of
the WTC building and the Pentagon. When we examine this matter closely, we can
go no farther in the search for the possible perpetrators than Israeli Mossad
agents."[42]
Columnist Galal Al-Sayyed posed this question in the Egyptian
government daily Al-Akhbar : "?Why couldn't it be the Mossad that
secretly planned this crime without exposing itself? [Later,] the idea crept out to bin
Laden and his aides via his collaborators [in the Mossad]. I wouldn't be exaggerating
by saying that perhaps the Mossad sent bin Laden-trained men and pilots to carry
out the operation, without its being discovered? Flight experts have pointed out that
it's impossible for amateurs trained for a number of hours, or months, to fly such
planes and to do what was done."[43]
V: The Jews' Prior Convictions as 'Evidence': Reviving Infamous Antisemitic
Myths
Along with identifying the guilty parties ? that is, the Jews ? and presenting the
"evidence," the Arab media further supported their claims by citing the Jews' prior
criminal record ? that is, well-known antisemitic myths which have long since
confirmed the pattern of Jewish crimes.
A) Israel's history is rife with terror attacks
Muhammad Abd Al-Fattah Muhsin wrote in Al-Ahram : "Israel, and
the Jewish lobby behind it, have managed to drag American society into launching a
hate campaign against the Arabs and Muslims, after they pinned the blame for
terrorism on them. They have depicted the Arabs and Muslims as the ones behind
the tragic events of 'Black Tuesday.' Yet if we browse through the pages of history we
find obvious clues [indicating] that terrorism is originally 'made in Israel'?"[45]
Dr. Hayat Al-Huweiek 'Atiya said the Mossad had been involved in many
attacks, including one in Paris. This, she said, intimated that the Mossad was also
involved in the September 11th attacks. In Al-Dustour, she wrote: "?The
investigation of the bombing of the Paris synagogue showed that the Mossad was
behind the deed, and that the agent who infiltrated one of the extreme rightist
organizations was the one who took responsibility. Nevertheless, this did not have
political consequences. There are dozens of examples, including the bombs in
Baghdad which caused mass Jewish emigration? It is true that these are minor
examples, and that they cannot compare with what happened yesterday, but it is not
a question of scale? Due to the scope of the disaster, it should be assumed that
there were a number of elements creating it? We must direct full diplomatic and
media efforts not only towards washing our hands and denying our involvement from
the dock, but also towards a counterattack to shift us from the weak position of those
on the defensive to a stronger and more aggressive position."[46]
B) The Avaricious Jews Carried out the Attacks for Profit
Dr. Zahran of Suez Canal University wrote in Al-Ahram : "There were
many rumors, and open publicity, that the Jews, who were huge stockholders in the
airlines and insurance companies, sold their stocks at the highest possible prices in
Europe some 10 days before the attacks on America. After the stock market began
functioning again, on September 17? the Jews competed amongst themselves to
buy [these] stocks at the lowest possible prices, or waited until the stocks reached
their minimal value and then acquired them, for tremendous profits. There is no doubt
that this can expose their involvement in the crime. This demands covert
investigation by U.S. government bodies far from the official investigative bodies."[47]
C) The Jews Want to Take Over the World and 'The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion' Proves It
Political and economic expert Dr. Amira Al-Sinwani summarized "The Protocols"
for Al-Akhbar : "'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' published at the First
Zionist Congress in the city of Basel, Switzerland in 1897, rose from the depths of
darkness. They were later printed in French, in 1905. In 1921, the publication of
these protocols was completely banned, except for the Arabic version. We all
understand why Israel conceals these protocols when we look at the calls for
destruction and the immorality [appearing in them] ? among them the call to destroy
the world and set up 'a world Jewish government that will rule this land' ? that is, rule
the world."
To support her claims, Dr. Al-Sanwani referred to another article ? one appearing in a
book published in 1935 by the Germans titled "A Handbook on the Jewish Question."
She wrote: "In 1789, former U.S. president Benjamin Franklin [sic] warned against
the increase in Jewish immigrants, saying, 'The U.S. faces potential danger from the
Jews, wherever they may be. They bring down moral standards; they disseminate
fraud in commerce, and they disseminate grief in the country. If the world gives them
Palestine ? they will be bloodsuckers. They must be among others so that they can
trample them. If they are not constitutionally expelled from the U.S. within a hundred
years at the most, they will infiltrate the U.S. in numbers that will allow them to rule
and destroy it. They will set themselves apart from us even if they are among us for
tens of generations. The leopard cannot change his spots. I warn you, if you do not
completely expel the Jews from America, they will endanger our institutions.'[48]
They themselves [the Americans] attested to this."
Dr. Al-Sanwani concluded her article with a final claim about the perpetrators of the
'Black Tuesday' terror attacks: "We do not support placing blame without clear-cut
proof. It is only a possibility that the U.S. must consider in order to determine which
body or country carried out the terrorist crime against it, before accusations are
leveled at the Arabs or Muslims or bin Laden without clear-cut proof."[49
A leading article in Al-Manar also draws heavily on the "Protocols,": "The Zio-
Americans were angry and deeply saddened when their candidate Al Gore and his
Zionist-American colleague [i.e. Joseph Lieberman] lost the recent presidential
elections. They were striving to begin the Judaization of the White House, politically
and officially, by bringing a Jewish vice president into the White House as a first step
towards the day when a Jew from the race of the House of David would stand at the
head of the American Jewish Republic, thus fulfilling the Biblical prophecy that at the
end of days a king from the seed of the House of David would rule the world? and
thus Israel would be guaranteed complete security and world Zionism would fully
control America's material and spiritual power. This disappointment aroused the ire
and the hatred of the Zio-American Jews; they expressed this in all areas [using] all
means. They resolved that the administration in the U.S. should be brought back to
the Clinton era, during which most of the ministers [sic] were Jews. [They will do this]
with a win by the Zionist-controlled Democratic Party, in the next presidential election
? which will be made possible only by toppling the Republican administration headed
by President George Bush Jr. [sic] and offering the candidacy of a Zio-American Jew
who will Judaize the White House politically and officially ? although the White House
has long been Judaized, since most of its officials are Zionist Americans?"[50]
Saudi Prince Mamdouh bin Abd Al-Aziz, president of the Saudi Center for
Strategic Studies, wrote in the London daily Al-Hayat that the
"Protocols" were based on a number of "other genuine documents": "Anyone who
even skims through The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Pieces on the
Chessboard, or the book The World is a Pawn in the Hands of Israel , and
follows current events, becomes convinced that the Jews are behind the world's
current 'terrorized' atmosphere? These three books concur that there is a Zionist
conspiracy?[the goal of which is] to channel everything, as much as possible,
towards the interests of world Jewry, primarily those among them called 'Allah's
Chosen People'?"
"Objectivity demands that we ask whether the disasters that have struck at the heart
of the Arab and Islamic world over many long years were mere coincidence, or were
the result of a conspiracy?. I have no doubt whatsoever that many Arab Islamic
countries and organizations, both religious and pan-Arab, that acted in good faith,
were infiltrated by the Jews?"[51]
D) Jewish Involvement in the Events of September 11 was Never Reported
because the Jews Control the American Media
This was another of Egypt's Sheikh Gamei'a's claims: "When a group of
people attacked my home [in America], I went out to them and asked why they were
doing this. They said that because we were Muslims we were linked to terrorism. I
explained to them that what they were doing was uncivilized and was, in effect, a
twofold crime; you let the criminals go free and attack innocents. This does not suit a
modern state and a modern people, and is opposed to human values? During my
conversations with this group, it became clear to me that they knew very well that the
Jews were behind these ugly acts, while we, the Arabs, were innocent, and that
someone from among their people was disseminating corruption in the land. Although
the Americans suspect that the Zionists are behind the act, none has the courage to
talk about it in public?When I asked them whether they had the courage to talk
about it openly, they said: 'We can't.' I asked why, and they said: 'You know very well
that the Zionists control everything and that they also control political decision-
making, the big media organizations, and the financial and economic institutions.
Anyone daring to say a word is considered an anti-Semite.'"
"On the news in the U.S. it was said that 4,000 Jews did not come to work at the
WTC on the day of the incident, and that the police arrested a group of Jews rejoicing
in the streets at the time of the incident? The Jews who control the media acted to
hush it up so that the American people would not know?. We saw these Zionists,
just one hour after the event, broadcasting on the BBC, the biggest media channel,
that the Arabs, and particularly the Palestinians, were celebrating and rejoicing over
the American deaths. [To do this] they broadcasted a video from 1991, [filmed] during
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. But Allah thwarted them when a professor from a
Brazilian university stated that the video was a forgery, because she had a copy of
[the original film]."[52]
Dr. Zahran of Suez Canal University <.B>attempted to explain why the U.S. did
not suspect the Jews of being involved in the attacks even in the face of ample
"evidence." He claimed that there was a conspiracy of silence on the matter: "?The
information that could help me prove the assessment that the Jews and the Mossad
are responsible for the September 11 attacks on the U.S. is deliberately vague. Why
not reveal the names of all the passengers on the four airplanes, and the names of
all those who didn't board the flight, among whom were Jews? If they were to reveal
the real data, it would help provide clear answers. But evidently this data will remain
a big secret, so as to prevent accusations of Israel, its intelligence apparatus, and the
Jews of America?"[53]
VI: The Crystallization of the New Antisemitic Myth
After most of the articles, interviews and references mentioned above appeared, a
comprehensive article by Ahmad Abu Zayid, titled "The Jews Are Behind the
Explosions in America," was published in Al-Ahram . In it, Abu Zayid
submitted 14 "pieces of evidence" in support of the theory that Israel and the Mossad
were involved in the September 11 attacks, and presents most of the claims
mentioned above.
"Following the explosions in the U.S. on the morning of September 11, the American
scenario, whose episodes included directing pre-formulated accusations against Arab
and Islamic circles, using this pretext in order to strike at particular countries, and
launching the war in Afghanistan and killing over 1,000 citizens of this impoverished
and tormented people, has [begun to] come true. Since then, it has been revealed to
me and to anyone following events and the way in which America is handling the
crisis that the American authorities' problem is not knowing who the real perpetrator
is, but the American administration's desire to develop the event so that? pre-
prepared plans to move into new areas now without a direct American military
presence can be implemented, and Osama bin Laden can be used as a pretext to
gain solidarity from world public opinion."
"Immediately after the [September] incidents, the American authorities began to
direct ready-made accusations towards certain people and elements [i.e. Arabs and
Muslims]. The American investigative apparatuses devoted efforts to verifying these
charges without noticing a series of pieces of evidence proving that the Arabs and
Muslims did not perpetrate the explosions, and that the explosions were perpetrated
by covert elements accustomed to acting secretly, violently, and bloodily, and then
pinning the blame on someone else ? thus accomplishing important strategic goals.
[It seems] as if the American administration was only waiting for an event of this type
to strike at the Islamic countries and declare war against them without seeking out
the real perpetrator of these explosions, unprecedented in American history."
"The question that now arises is, what is the interest in concealing the [identity of] the
real perpetrator while directing American public opinion and the investigative
authorities towards Osama bin Laden and the Arabs, although there is a strong
possibility that they did not carry out the huge attacks?"
"The facts prove that the capability to carry out this attack, as it was carried out, lies
solely in the hands of a single element in America ? that is, the Zionist lobby, which
has managed to infiltrate all American bodies. The possibility that the Zionist lobby,
and behind it the Mossad, were involved is a strong one. We are not saying these
things in a vacuum. There is a long line of evidence substantiating this":
"1. [Israel's]? General Security Services warned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
at the beginning of September? not to go to the U.S. during the entire month, as
noted by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth which reported that Sharon had
planned to go to New York in order to participate in a conference of solidarity with
Israel organized by the American Jewish organizations."
"2. Some 4,000 Jews employed in the WTC did not go to work that morning. It is not
possible that such a large number [of people] was absent from work by chance. This
is a fact that [even] the Zionist bodies in America do not deny, and it proves that the
Jews knew what was about to happen."
"3. The Jews sold their stocks in the Manhattan stock exchange two days before the
attacks. The sellers [on the stock exchange] were surprised by the [Jews'] haste to
sell their stocks in American companies."
"4. Twenty Jews came from outside the U.S., entered the WTC on the morning of the
event, and left before the attack. In addition, no Jew was hurt in the incident."
"5. [Federal investigators] arrested a group of Jews who set up video cameras on the
roof of one of the Israeli companies across from the WTC a little while before the
incident, in order to film the moment of the explosions. This proves that Zionist
elements knew what was about to happen. The Israeli paper Ha'aretz noted
that the federal investigators had arrested five Zionists who worked for a moving
company owned by a Zionist in nearby New Jersey on suspicion of involvement in
the explosions. The police interrogated them for three days, which came only four
hours after the incident as they were filming the explosions and dancing with glee.
The newspaper added that one of the suspects was interrogated for 14 hours straight
on suspicion of belonging to the Mossad after it became clear that he had European
citizenship in addition to his Israeli citizenship ? something only Mossad agents are
allowed."
"6. [The claim that] the Mossad carried out these explosions in the country most
friendly to Israel is based on its involvement in similar operations in the past such as
the blasting of the American ship U.S.S. Liberty in 1967. Furthermore, no
organization or country with good economic and technical [abilities] has so deeply
infiltrated American society and institutions, except for the Zionist entity and its arm
the Mossad. Proving this, is the report that appeared in the British paper The
Guardian, that no Arabs at all were aboard the two airplanes that struck the
WTC."
"7. The Canadian newspaper Newsembrojo [sic] reported that a CIA source
had said he had information practically proving that the Israeli Mossad was involved
in the attacks. The source, who refused to reveal his name for fear of putting the
Canadian newspaper at risk, added that the possibilities existed and that the CIA
apparatus had discovered an Israeli threat to hit buildings in the U.S. so as to arouse
world public opinion against the Arabs."
"8. This attack demands great military precision. The activity was carried out by a
military or a global intelligence body, not by a group of terrorists that did not possess
what the big countries have."
"9. These attacks shifted world public opinion against the Arabs and Muslims and in
favor of Israel, particularly after the rise of voices condemning Israel for its racism
during the Durban conference that followed 11 months of the Palestinian intifada."
"10. Israel and world Zionism are the only ones to gain from these incidents."
"11. The Jews acted to monger disagreement and contention between America and
the Arabs after Israel sensed recently a certain American identification with the
Palestinian people."
"12. There are many precedents in which the Zionists and the Jews carried out
organized terrorist activities. The operation that took place was one that only a well-
trained intelligence apparatus like the Mossad could have carried out."
"13. Israel is the only one that could have carried out these explosions. The attacks
themselves prove that they were planned by elements highly familiar with the
American apparatuses. The Mossad is the only one that could have breached
American security. Only the Zionists get the trust of the Americans, enabling them to
carry out such an operation without accusations being leveled at them."
"14. Israel wanted to divert attention from the official, and, particularly, the popular
international pressure on the Zionist government due to the massacres and the war
of annihilation it wages against the Palestinian people."
"In light of these certain facts, we can determine that the Israeli security apparatuses
knew in good time of the date of the suicide attacks on the U.S., and that these
apparatuses, particularly the Mossad, were involved in one way or another in
organizing and perpetrating the big terrorist operation. This is for a simple reason ?
that Israel is the first and only one to gain from this crime."
"The entire world must know who the [real] terrorists are, who act to corrupt the entire
world, to stir up contention among the peoples, and to kindle war and conflict that kill
women, children, and the elderly. America must seek the real perpetrator of the
recent explosions ? not shut its eyes in the face of what the Zionist Jews are doing?
and not persist with its hostility towards the Arabs and Muslims."[54]
The Egyptian Sheikh Muhammad Gamei'a, one of the more vocal
proponents of the conspiracy theory, went further still and hinted at the punishment
the Jews should receive for their deeds ? annihilation like Hitler attempted:
"I told the American officials that the American people cannot, at this critical stage,
know the real enemy who struck at its heart if it does not awaken from its slumber
and stop blaming the Arabs and the Muslims. Immediately after the event, some 30%
of the American people awakened [and realized] that they were the victims of
deception on the part of the Jews, who presented the Arabs and the Muslims to them
as a nation of barbarians and blood-shedders. It became clear to the American
people that hidden hands were at play in their land. I heard from many Americans
who visited me at the Islamic Center that they had been misled by the Jews and thus
had come to express their support for the Arabs and Muslims. They said openly, We
were deceived!!? If this [deceit] were to be known to the American people, they
would do to the Jews what Hitler did to them!?"[55]
[1] Saut Al-Haqq Wa-Al-Hurriyya (Israel), October 19, 2001.
[2] Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), October 2, 2001.
[3] Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), September 13, 2001.
[4] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 14, 2001.
[5] Teshreen (Syria), September 13, 2001.
[6] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 14, 2001.
[7] Al-Manar (Palestinian Authority). The Iranian daily Gamhouri
Islami stated on September 15, 2001, that the perpetrators of the attacks were
Americans: "Everyone knows that Palestinian elements, bin Laden, and their ilk do
not have the capability of carrying out a number of simultaneous airplane hijackings
in the heart of America, under the watchful eye of the American intelligence and
security organizations, and attacking the most sensitive financial, political,
intelligence, and security centers in this country? [Furthermore], in America itself
there are more than enough motivated elements with specific goals to attack the
imperialist entity?"
[8] Al-Dustour (Jordan), September 13, 2001.
[9] The Jerusalem Post (Israel), October 19, 2001.
[10] Al-Istiqlal (Palestinian Authority), October 12, 2001.
[11] Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), September 16, 2001.
[12] Interview, October 4, 2001. www.lailatalqadr.com/stories/p5041001.shtml
[13] Al-Dustour (Jordan), September 13, 2001.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Al-Rai (Jordan), September 13, 2001.
[17] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 30, 2001.
[18] Tehran Times (Iran), September 15, 2001.
[19] IRNA (Iran), October 24, 2001.
[20] Kayhan (Iran), October 2, 2001.
[21] Saut Al-Haqq Wa-Al-Hurriyya (Israel), October 5, 2001.
[22] Al-Hayat (London), September 9, 2001.
[23] Al-Ahram, (Egypt), October 7, 2001.
[24] www.lailatalqadr.com/stories/p5041001.shtml
[25] Al-Manar (Palestinian Authority), September 24, 2001. In another article, entitled
"Two Events and a Single Piece of Evidence," the weekly reported, "It is known that
the Mossad station in the U.S. maintained a luxurious office in New York under the
name of a computer company.
The office's clerks left it, with the furnishings, 10 days before the attacks. The Israeli
Rafael Security Industries also had offices in the same tower, and its employees left
the tower before the incident (Al-Manar, Palestinian Authority, October 22, 2001).
[26] Al-Manar TV (Lebanon), September 17, 2001, www.paknews.com
[27] Al-Dustour (Jordan), September 24, 2001. It should be noted that although most
versions mention 4,000 Jews who did not show up for work on that day, some cite
other figures. In an interview with the Saudi Arabian daily Al-
Watan, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah said that 5,000 Jews
hadn't come to work (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, November 12, 2001). But Galal Al-
Sid brought the number down to 3,000 (Al-Akhbar, Egypt, October 29, 2001),
while Jordanian columnist Ahmad Al-Maslah wrote that only "1,400 Jews
were absent from work that day, which is additional proof incriminating the Jews." (Al-
Sabil, Jordan, October 4, 2001.)
[28] A reference to an incident reported in the Israeli media: A number of Israelis
were arrested as they were taking pictures of each other and laughing against the
backdrop of the burning buildings. They were released some two months later, as
they were found to have no connection
to the attacks.
[29] www.lailatalqadr.com/stories/p5041001.shtml
[30] Saut Al-Haqq Wa-Al-Hurriyya (Israel), October 19, 2001.
[31] As cited by Al-Quds (Palestinian Authority), November 4, 2001, and Daily Star
(Lebanon), November 4, 2001.
[32] Al-Usbu' (Egypt), November 5, 2001.
[33] IRNA, Iran October 24, 2001.
[34] Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) September 17, 2001 www.paknews.com
[35] Al-Hayat (London), September 30, 2001.
[36] This is reminiscent of another statement following the 1999 EgyptAir crash. Amin
Hamad, a ruling-party member of the Egyptian People's Council, said that in his
opinion, "the Mossad had infiltrated the American control tower and diverted the
plane from its path, so that it would be hit [by a missile]" (Al-Ahram, Egypt, November
23, 1999).
[37] www.lailatalqadr.com/stories/p5041001.shtml
[38] Saut Al-Haqq Wa Al-Hurriyya (Israel), December 14, 2001.
[39] Kayhan (Iran), October 2, 2001.
[40] Al-Dustour (Jordan), September 29, 2001.
[41] Al-Ahram (Egypt), October 7, 2001.
[42] Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), November 4, 2001.
[43] Al-Akhbar (Egypt), October 29, 2001.
[44] Al-Akhbar (Egypt), September 12, 2001.
[45] Al-Ahram (Egypt), December 11, 2001.
[46] Al-Dustour (Jordan), September 13, 2001.
[47] Al-Ahram (Egypt), October 7, 2001.
[48] Charles Krauthammer also referred to this article, in his March 6, 1998 column in
The Washington Post entitled "Arafat's Children."
[49] Al-Akhbar (Egypt), October 26, 2001.
[50] Al-Manar (Palestinian Authority), September 17, 2001. Additionally, Hamas
activist Yussef Al-'Azm wrote in the Jordanian Hamas mouthpiece
>I>Al-Sabil about the Jews' desire to rule the world: "The Jews in Europe
thought to move to the U.S. so as to take absolute control of [the American] capital,
banks, stock market, media, and political decision-making in both houses of
Congress, and thus it was. The Jews infiltrated the American army, particularly the
Air Force, and they pressured their pilots to take the planes, knowing that religion is
not denoted in the identity cards of those joining the American military. Accordingly,
the airplanes were [controlled] by the Jews, as were the press, radio, television, and
money in the banks and the stock market. Thus they took control of political decision-
making. Why is Bush ignoring these facts, and announcing that an investigation will
be conducted so as to reveal who is behind the events? They are the Jews, Bush!
And don't act like you don't know who is behind the recent events in the U.S., and
don't tire out the investigative committees along with you." (Al-Sabil, Jordan, October
4, 2001).
[51] Al-Hayat (London), September 24, 2001.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Al-Ahram (Egypt), October 7, 2001. The Egyptian media have used the
"conspiracy of silence" theory to account for the 1999 crash of the EgyptAir plane.
For instance, the head of the Egypt Institute of Arab Research and Studies Dr.
Ahmed Yussef stated that it was widely thought in Egypt that there was a plot to
conceal the truth about the disaster in order to uphold the reputation of Boeing, or to
protect Israel, America's strategic ally, as "many Egyptians think that Israeli
intelligence played a part in what happened in light of the presence of Egyptian
military personnel on the downed plane" (Al-Quds, Palestinian Authority, November
30, 2001).
[54] Al-Wafd, October 27, 2001; Al-Ahram, October 29, 2001.