Osama bin Laden’s letter ‘stirring’ America, why is it going viral in Israel-Hamas war?

New Delhi: A letter from Osama bin Laden, the former head of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, which is more than two decades old, is going viral on TikTok, the discussion of which has reached America. This letter from Osama bin Laden was posted by some social media users on video sharing platform and re-shared on X (formerly Twitter). In this letter, bin Laden explained why he carried out the 9/11 attacks and also declared a jihad against America.

Bin Laden’s 2002 ‘Letter to America’ using the hashtag #lettertoamerica (over 2 million views) sparked debate about US support for Israel in its current conflict with Hamas, NBC News reports. Removed from your search. Some social media users say the al Qaeda founder’s document offers an alternative view of America’s involvement in the conflict in the Middle East — which the White House has criticized.

The issue became moot when users started sharing links to copies of The Guardian’s letter. This letter was written one year after the attacks of September 11, 2001. More than three thousand people were killed in this attack. The Guardian has removed the 21-year-old’s letter from its website.

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According to NBC News, the letter’s language was anti-Semitic. In the letter, bin Laden addressed the American people and sought answers to the following question, “Why are we fighting you and opposing you?” and “What are we calling you to and what do we ask of you?”

This sparked a debate on social media about the legitimacy and morality of Bin Laden’s letter. Some sympathized, others condemned or ridiculed it. Those who discussed the letter said it made them reevaluate their beliefs about the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also said he was not praising or defending bin Laden’s plot to carry out the 9/11 attacks.

TikTok’s critics argued that it proved the app, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, was secretly promoting propaganda among American youth. Bin Laden’s letter also criticized US support for Israel and accused the US of aiding and abetting the torture of the Palestinian people. According to the Washington Post, the former Al Qaeda chief also criticized US interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Chechnya and Lebanon.