A TikTok video creator who shared a video showcasing the 2002 letter allegedly written by Osama Bin Laden has spoken out amid backlash over the resurfacing of the document.
In a video on Thursday, TikTok user @raeyreads spoke about the sharing of the letter as some believe she was one of the first creators to do so.
“So, I have been getting messages from news outlets. First and foremost, I want to say I will absolutely not be communicating with any Western media outlet. I do not trust you. I know, absolutely, you will spin my words against me in any way that you can,” the user said in the video, adding that the “Letter to America” video she posted has been taken down by TikTok.
“I did not state anywhere that I agreed wholeheartedly with everything that was written in that letter,” the user said. “However, if I’m going to post something that I think can show another side of things, I’m not going to only post a portion of it….I believe it’s important to see the way that things are perceived by everybody, that are involved in it and I believe that that letter was a really great way to encourage some critical thought.”
Newsweek reached out to TikTok via email for comment.
Al Rai Al Aam/Feature Story News/Getty Images/Getty Images
On Thursday, the “Letter to America” allegedly written by bin Laden surfaced across social media including TikTok, with many users sharing and reposting portions of it.
According to the Washington Post, the letter was published by The Guardian in 2002, roughly one year after attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. However, on Thursday, The Guardian removed the letter from its website telling Time magazine that “we have decided to take it down and direct readers to the news article that originally contextualized it instead.”
The letter allegedly written by the former Al-Qaeda leader and orchestrator of the 9/11 attacks said, “The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals[…]Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its price, and pay for it heavily.”
“The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq,” the letter added.
Some social media users have shared videos of others reading the letter and have criticized their responses to it.
“Well, we had a nice run America,” @Justin_Hart wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Someone put together a compilation of TikToks where people are reacting to reading Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” – AND THEY’RE AGREEING WITH IT!”
X user Collin Rugg wrote, “Many users appear to sympathize with bin Laden who was responsible for 9/11…These TikTok users have touted the letter as making them question why certain acts of terror, including 9/11 are really considered ‘terrorism.'”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.