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TikTok Bin Laden Craze Shows Facts Are Not Important, and Jew-Hating Is Cool
Osama bin Laden sits with his adviser Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian linked to the al Qaeda network, during an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir (not pictured) in an image supplied by Dawn newspaper November 10, 2001. Hamid Mir/Editor/Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn/Handout via REUTERS
It should not come as a surprise that many young people posted Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter To America” on TikTok and praised him.
The first reason is that on social media, people are rewarded by posting things that are controversial. Facts and morality don’t matter. Second, the entire American educational system, especially colleges, don’t teach the truth about the September 11 attacks and the anti-Western and jihadist mentality that fueled them.
If one simply uses Google to do some research for five minutes, it is clear that Osama Bin Laden was furious that American troops defended Saudi Arabia. He issued a fatwa, or edict, against America in 1996, literally called “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places.” Israel was not a focus.
If his primary problem was with Israel, one would have thought he would try to attack there. Instead, his attacks were on American embassies in East Africa in 1998, the USS Cole in Yemen, and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and one other target that was missed when passengers overtook United Flight 93 on that Tuesday morning.
Almost all Americans used to be united against Bin Laden.
But now, as it has become cool and “sophisticated” to justify terrorism, antisemitism, and hate in America — and because professors teach hateful and false narratives with no repercussions — we should not be surprised to see this hatred spread online.
It’s good to question things. But when young people believe there is no such thing as facts, it’s a problem. Without such a foundation, everything crumbles. Many today are useful idiots that justify evil. In an America where young people are taught to view all police officers as evil, and American soldiers as evil, this is a logical next step.
Many of those who posted about Bin Laden’s letter in a positive way will most assuredly say they are being silenced. But the opposite is happening.
Many people and organizations on social media profit more from lies than they do from the truth. This is why many podcasts feature various conspiracies that have no factual support. The idea that people know the “real” truth, and that the conventional wisdom is wrong, is quite attractive to people.
We live in an age where no one does any research or independently verifies facts. We live in an age where young people no longer possess critical thinking skills — the ability to analyze competing information, and decide what they think is more accurate.
We live in a world where people are posting that the Hamas attack of October 7 was a lie, despite video evidence filmed by Hamas terrorists themselves. And it’s more than TikTok. On Instagram, there is a video claiming that the world misses Saddam Hussein, the brutal Iraqi dictator who used chemical weapons against his own people.
There is also a failure of parents not educating their children, but many also have no idea what their children are posting. Young people are addicted to social media. Parents are often ambivalent or helpless to stop it.
Many of the people spreading hate online use the phrase “my truth,” and end the inquiry at that.
I’d like to see a bank robber tell a judge “my truth is that I didn’t rob the bank.” It wouldn’t work — or would it? It’s hard to tell, but most of these bank robbers would still go to jail.
Yet for some reason, it is acceptable for people to use the phrase “my truth” when vilifying Israel, America, and many other things. They should change it to, “my lie.”
The author is a writer based in New York.
The post TikTok Bin Laden Craze Shows Facts Are Not Important, and Jew-Hating Is Cool first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.