Osama Bin Laden is Going Viral on TikTok and This Seems Very Bad

Credit to Yashar Ali for pointing this out. I don’t have a TikTok account but Ali reports that Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” is suddenly going viral on the site with hundreds of random people falling over themselves to praise and recommend it.

Over the past 24 hours, thousands of TikToks (at least) have been posted where people share how they just read Bin Laden’s infamous “Letter to America,” in which he explained why he attacked the United States.

The TikToks are from people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Many of them say that reading the letter has opened their eyes, and they’ll never see geopolitical matters the same way again.

Many of them — and I have watched a lot — say it has made them reevaluate their perspective on how what is often labeled as terrorism can be a legitimate form of resistance to a hostile power.

Rolling Stone just published a story about the trend and it’s very clear that the people posting these videos are suddenly convinced that Osama was right!

“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,’” said TikTok user Lynette Adkins in a video posted to the platform on Tuesday, referring to the title often given to the text by bin Laden. “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.”

Commenters felt similarly awestruck by the document. “Just read it.. my eyes have been opened,” wrote one. “Read our entire existence for filth and he did NOT miss,” another said of bin Laden’s criticisms of the U.S. The clip itself went viral, with other young TikTokers also sharing the letter approvingly, encouraging followers to read it. “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 who posted the letter in full. “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.”

Here’s Lynette Adkins having a moment for Osama.

 

There is indeed a portion of the letter that is about Israel which seems to be why this trend is happening now, i.e. it’s being seen as an insightful take on the current war in Israel.

Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:

(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.
a) You attacked us in Palestine:

(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for it heavily.

So many people were essentially praising this letter that the Guardian, which was the top Google search result, pulled it down. Now people are angry about that as well.

 

Here’s the tweet form Yashar Ali including a video with segments from a couple of the TikTok videos he’s seen.

 

This is not something I had on my bingo card for 2023. How is it even possible there are suddenly lots of people who’ve decided Osama was right and, implicitly, that the Hamas attack on Israel and maybe even 9/11 were justified? I’m pretty certain most of these people are on the left but even for the left this is a new low.

 

Personally I’m with this guy. There’s just not a lot to say here besides have you lost your mind?

 

And this tweet applies to Osama as well.