'You attacked us in Palestine': Osama Bin Laden's 'Letter to America' goes viral on TikTok amid Israel-Hamas war 

Amid Israel's ongoing military operations in Gaza, Osama Bin Laden's 21-year-old 'Letter to America' has gone viral on TikTok. The letter was written soon after the worst terror attack on the United States in 2001, remembered as 9/11. Laden, then chief of the terror organisation Al-Qaeda, was the mastermind of the deadliest attack on America's World Trade Center, which killed nearly 3,000 people and injured thousands more.

Now, his letter justifying the attack and telling the world why he did what he did has grabbed eyeballs in the US. Some of the social media users who read the letter put out video statements encouraging more people to read it. But what has troubled many is that those who read the letter appeared to be convinced by the reasonings given by Laden for the worst terror strike in America's history.

"We've been lied to our entire lives, I remember watching people cheer when Osama was found and killed," wrote a 25-year-old user. "I was a child, and it confused me. It still confuses me today. The world deserves better than what this country has done to them."

Lynette Adkins, another TikToker, said: "I need everyone to stop what they’re doing right now and go read — it's literally two pages — go read 'A Letter to America...come back here and let me know what you think. Because I feel like I’m going through like an existential crisis right now, and a lot of people are. So I just need someone else to be feeling this too."

Laden's letter, which was published by the Guardian in November 2002 but was taken down on Wednesday as soon as it went viral, explained why Al-Qaeda was fighting the US and what they wanted from Washington. "As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: Because you attacked us and continue to attack us - You attacked us in Palestine," the letter said.

The dreaded terrorist, who was eliminated in 2011 in a special operation by the US Navy Seal, held America responsible for the creation of Israel. "The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews...the creation and continuation of Israel are one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals," Laden said. 

The Al-Qaeda founder called the creation of Israel a crime and that it "must be erased". He said each and every person whose hands had become polluted in the contribution towards this crime "must pay its price, and pay for it heavily".

A section of Americans are now furious with those whose views appear to have changed about Laden after reading the letter. "If that genuinely changed anyone's perspective, it's a sign they're historically illiterate, unfamiliar with the world, and don't have the knowledge level to evaluate much of anything that isn't a meme, bumper sticker or Tiktok video," said John Hawkins, a social media user.

Another person said that he believed the US should "arrest these idiots reading Osama Bin Laden's letter on TikTok and deport them to Afghanistan or any other Muslim country they are practically pledging allegiance to". "They are siding with him, let them have their wish and live there."

Andrea Karshan, another social media user, said that when she was Muslim she listened to a few of Osama Bin Laden's speeches because it was going around Muslim circles. "I also heard Abdulrahman al-Awlaki speechs as well. BUT never was I crazy enough to like agree with any of the nonsense they were saying. And to think these random TikTokers are like thinking it's trendy, cool and hip to look up to maniacs like that. It's just nuts. People are just insane," she said. 

Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator, held the West responsible for the sympathetic views of some about Laden. "This is because the West has taught an entire generation of its children that the West is itself evil and ought to be destroyed. These are the wages of that pathetic lack of self-confidence," he said.

Ryan Lawrence, a social media user, said he could not believe he was living in a timeline where Osama Bin Laden was going to be more respected than Ben Shapiro.

"I still can't believe there idiots right now, justifying Osama Bin Laden," said David Weissman, an army veteran.

Aviva Klompas, an author and speaker, said the line between good and evil has been erased. "American kids are coming around on Osama Bin Laden because his #lettertoamerica justifies 9/11 owing to U.S. support for Israel and demonization of Jews."

Laden's letter has gone viral at a time when Israel is carrying out military operations in Gaza, which is controlled by the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas. The war began after the militant group carried out the deadliest attack on Israel and killed 1,400-plus people. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the domestic intelligence and security service of the US, described Laden as a "violent terrorist" and "mass murderer", who it said used bombings and bloodshed to advance his extremist goals.

After founding al Qaeda, he engineered a series of attacks on the US. His first major terrorist attack came in February 1993, when Ramzi Yousef — a young extremist who had trained in one of bin Laden's camps — planted a truck bomb beneath the World Trade Center, the FBI said. The plan to topple both towers failed, but six people were killed and more than a thousand were injured.