8/23/1996

In bin Laden’s ‘Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries,’ delivered on August 23, 1996, he said: ” ‘Each of you knows the injustice, oppression, and aggression the Muslims are suffering from the Judeo-crusading alliance and its lackeys. The blood of Muslims no longer has a price… Their blood is flowing in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon (the awful images of the Qana [Lebanon] massacre are still present in everyone’s mind), not to mention the massacres in Tajikistan, Burma, Kashmir, Assam, the Philippines, Pattani, Ogaden, Somalia, Eritrea, Chechnya, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Muslims have been the victims of atrocious acts of butchery. …The most recent calamity to have struck Muslims is the occupation of the land of the two sanctuaries [Saudi Arabia]…and the cradle of prophecy…and the source of the divine message–the site of the Holy Kaaba, to which all Muslims pray. And who is occupying it? The armies of the American Christians and their allies.”

 – Gilles Kepel and Jean-Pierre Milelli, eds., Al Qaeda In Its Own Words, Pages 47-48