Conspiracy runs rampant
STEVEN STALINSKY, THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 20, 2004
Dr. Nawwal Nur and her son Hazem Saleh Abu Isma'il, who preach Islam in the US, were interviewed about 9/11 by Saudi Iqra TV on July 15. The host asked if the attacks had harmed Americans' image of Islam.
Nur explained, "Not at all. It has not even been proven that Muslims committed it. There hasn't even been an investigation They are confused about what happened That is why more people converted to Islam."
Her son added: "I am one of those who believe these events were fabricated from the outset as part of the global groundwork for the distortion of Islam's image Even before these events took place there was preparation for them ."
On the third anniversary of 9/11, Arab and Iranian TV have been commemorating the attacks by airing such shows.
Aside from the occasional denunciation of the attacks, the murder of 3,000 Americans is often observed in the region's government-controlled TV with statements made by leading professors, religious leaders, government officials, and even Muslim-Americans that are often conspiracy theories stating that Arabs and Muslims were not involved and that the US government or Jews are the true culprits.
Many reasons are given as to why the US government would attack its own country.
Syrian researcher Tayyeb Tizini, interviewed on Iran's al-Alam TV on August 16, claimed that an intifada against globalization had broken out, and that in order to thwart it America attacked itself on 9/11:
"According to American and European documents, including the investigation of President Bush and his aides about 9/11, I'd like to say that 9/11 was an American action. These Americans began to understand that the new order must be marketed by a great event that would create new dangers for the world. 9/11 was for this purpose ."
Former dean of humanities at Egypt's 'Ein Shams University, Mustafa Shak'a was interviewed by Iqra TV on June 16, where he attributed the 9/11 attacks to the US and the Jews:
"To this day, we don't know who attacked the US on September 11. Why is the attack attributed to [Osama] bin Laden although it has not been proven that he was involved in the operation? It is way above his capabilities.
"Those who created him have made him a legend. The operation was 100% American, and this is not the place to elaborate, but what proves the operation was a Jewish one is that five Jews climbed up a high building and filmed the first attack of the first plane ."
At the Al-Shahid Mosque in Khartoum, Sudan on August 27, the imam 'Abd al-Jalil al-Nazir al-Karouri, discussed 9/11 during a Friday sermon that appeared on Sudan state TV:
" Let's say in brief, that whether the events and the destruction of the two famous buildings in the US were carried out by Israel's enemies, as the US claims, or by Israeli agents, as we claim, the outcome is the same: The Jews are the cause. These Jews hasten America's death.
"The US must beware. We offer this advice via the TV channels so they won't wake up when it is too late."
Another common conspiracy has been to state that al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden are puppets of the US.
Iraqi political analyst Kazem al-Qurayshi spoke on the Iranian channel Sahar1 TV about 9/11 and terrorism on July 18:
"Al-Zarqawi, bin-Laden, and Mullah Omar, and all the leaders of the Salafi movement, are tools created by the British Freemason movement 200 years ago. With these tools they wanted to create a new religion for us, to confront Islam. They filled this new religion with Jewish poison, the Masonic poison. Their religion is manifested by a long beard, a short garment, and killing Muslims.
"Do you think that the CIA participated in the events of 9/11, that they attacked the US, killed Americans, and humiliated the US in front of the whole world? It has been three decades since plans to bomb these buildings, the Twins, were made. But they wanted to do it so it would not be in vain.
"I noticed that the planes hit the upper part of the buildings, but the buildings exploded from the bottom, which proves that they were booby-trapped. Neighboring buildings also collapsed without being hit by planes.
"In order to carry out this plan they dragged fools from the Salafi movement and trained them to fly planes, a few years ago. Does bin-Laden have airfields where he can train them, or what ?"
On April 28 Lebanese Druze leader and parliamentarian Walid Jumblatt gave an interview to Al-Arabiyya TV and discussed why he thinks the US was responsible:
"Who invented Osama bin Laden?! The Americans, the CIA invented him
"I am of the opinion that somewhere, someplace, there is an intelligence agency profiting from al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden is like a ghost, popping up when needed. This is my opinion Even 9/11. Since there are many circumstances
"Why didn't the sirens go off when the four hijacked planes took off? This happened only after an hour-and-a-half or an hour and 20 minutes. That is peculiar. The largest country in the world, with the largest intelligence budget of $70-80 billion for various agencies, could only put out a warning after an hour and 20 minutes?! A peculiar story.
"The US always needs an enemy. It comes and goes. Today it is Islam...."
In 2002, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef blamed 9/11 on Zionists. This theory has been repeated many times in Saudi Arabia, most recently by Saudi Cleric Dr. Sa'd bin 'Abdallah al-Breik on Saudi Arabia's Channel 1 on August 16, 2004:
"We must not inflate [the importance] of al-Qaida to the point of claiming that it is the main and only perpetrator of this large operation [9/11]. I'm not here to defend [al-Qaida], but we must not overstate this matter It is a mistake to ignore the possibility that the Zionist hands used some people who were planted into one of the stages of this plan, from this issue.
"I have read some books that were translated from English into Arabic in which the Americans themselves call 9/11 "The Great Deception" .
One June 1, Jaam-E-Jam 1, the Iranian government TV channel directed at Europe, began airing a series about September 11, which inexplicably included video clips of the O.J. Simpson murder case:
"Zionism, as expressed in the Jewish Protocols, nurtures in its mind the dream of taking over the world. With Bush's rise to power, it controls the White House with greater force.
"A short while before the blasts of September 11, Mercury, a local Pennsylvanian newspaper, reported that two Jews were arrested while filming the Twin Towers Some hours after the Twin Towers were blasted, the FBI had arrested five Israelis who had planned to blow up the New York Bridge in the Manhattan and New Jersey area.
"Also, the absence of 4,000 Jews [working] in the Twin Towers strengthened the claim that they took a vacation on that day ."
Thus while 9/11 is commemorated as a solemn day in the US, in parts of the Middle East the attacks continue to be blamed on others.
The writer is executive director of MEMRI. www.memritv.org
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