Second Bin Laden Audio Transcript: "A Message to the Islamic Nation"
By Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a copy of a May 18 audio recording from Al-Qaida Usama Bin Laden titled “A Message to the Islamic Nation.” During his speech, Bin Laden called upon Muslim youths—particularly those living in countries neighboring Israel—to immediately take up arms in defense of their Palestinian “brothers” in the embattled Gaza Strip. According to Bin Laden, “It is very clear what our brothers, the heroes of Egypt, must do in order to lift that siege, since they are the only ones on the borders [of Gaza]. They should move towards lifting this siege and bringing down this haughty, cruel tyrant [Hosni Mubarak], who has a heart of stone and is the murderer of the children of Gaza… The only way to reach Palestine is to fight the governments and factions that surround the Jews, for they stand between us and them… So, rush towards the battlefields of Jihad, and in particular, those which are closest to Palestine.” Once again, Bin Laden also addressed recent condemnations of Al-Qaida for the killing of fellow Muslims, dismissing these critics as “ignorant of their own religion.”
The English transcript can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.
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