5/15/2008

“Bin Laden provided two revealing commentaries via al Qaeda’s propaganda machine on the sixtieth anniversary of Israel’s creation in May 2008. In one he said to Americans, ‘The main root of the conflict between our civilization and your civilization is the Palestine question. I stress that the Palestine question is my nation’s central issue. It was, therefore, a key factor that has, since childhood, provided me and the free 19 men (the 9/11 hijackers) with an overwhelming feeling of the need to punish the Jews and those supporting them. This is why the incidents of September 11th took place.’ …In the second message…bin Laden urged the Muslim world to overthrow the corrupt regimes that have made peace with Israel…” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]

 – Bruce Riedel, The Search for Al Qaeda, Pages 129-130