Sunday, May 20, 2012

Early Media Accounts of Arab Reaction to 9/11.

September 11, 2001, The Times, UK, Palestinians go into the streets, dancing and shooting in the air and handing out sweets, to celebrate the news of the terrorist attack in the U.S.,
September 11, 2001, Agence France Presse, [2:50 a.m. SGT, or 1:50 p.m. EST, or 12:50 p.m. EDT ] "Bullseye," say Egyptians as they celebrate anti-US attacks,
September 11, 2001, [1:30 p.m. EST Link] Reuters, Palestinians Celebrate Attacks with Gunfire, by Joseph Logan,
September 11, 2002, [4:04 p.m. ET] Reuters, Arab Street Cheers, Govts Lament U.S. Attacks, by Joseph Logan,
September 11, 2001, BBC News, Mixed response from Arab world, Heba Saleh in Cairo, [ 22:03 GMT 23:03 UK]
September 11, 2001, Agence France Presse, Palestinians in Lebanon Celebrate Anti-US Attacks,
September 11, 2001, The Times, UK, Palestinians go into the streets, dancing and shooting in the air and handing out sweets, to celebrate the news of the terrorist attack in the U.S.,
September 11, 2001, The Jerusalem Post / Associated Press, (22:40 - Tues) Arafat horrified; Palestinians celebrating, by Mohammed Daraghmeh,
September 11, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (23:00 - Tues) Old City residents react with joy & horror,

September 12, 2001, St Augustine.com, Terrorism experts split on cause of attack, by Peter Guinta, Staff Writer,
September 12, 2001, Associated Press / St Augustine.com, Palestinians rejoice, World watches in horror as terror unfolds in New York,
September 12, 2001, The Jerusalem Post / AP, [14:00] Report: Armed Palestinians threatened photojournalists,
September 12, 2001; [6:02 p.m. EDT] The Associated Press, AP Protests Threats to Cameraman,
September 12, 2001, The Washington Post, As Mideast Officials Offer Condolences, Some Arabs Rejoice, by Howard Schneider and Lee Hockstader,
September 12, 2001, St. Petersburg Times, Pained world condemns acts, but some cheer,
September 12, 2001, The Daily Star [Lebanon], Palestinians celebrate 'Support to our intifada', by Mohammed Zaatari,
September 12, 2001, IMRA, PA threatens to kill news workers if broadcast photos of celebrating Palestinians,
September 12 2001, USA Today, Palestinian leaders try to repair image, by Matthew Kalman,
September 12, 2001, forums.dpreview.com, CNN Using 1991 Footage..., by Márcio A.V. de Carvalho,
September 13, 2001, CAMERA, Excerpt from 9/12/01 Report from Palestinian Media Watch,
September 13, 2001, IMRA, Interview: AP Bureau Chief on Palestinian death threats, by Aaron Lerner,
September 13, 2001, IMRA, AP Protests Death Threats to Freelance Cameraman by PA, Update,
September 13, 2001, IMRA, Text: Foreign Press Association in Israel condemns PA for threatening journalists, [As reported in The Jerusalem Post website 13 September 2001]
September 13, 2001, IMRA, Interview: Palestine Media Center on Palestinian death threats to the AP, by Aaron Lerner,
September 13, 2001, Middle East Newsline / Special to World Tribune.com, Palestinian Authority threatens camera crews covering celebrations,
September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, Israel to AP: Release film of Palestinian celebrations,
September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (08:15) Jericho: PA walls come tumblin' down
September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (18:10) Abed Rabbo: Israel exploiting terror strikes on US,
September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, Jewish leaders stress Palestinians' support of attacks, by Melissa Radler,
September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (17:45) Foreign journalists 'deeply concerned' by PA harassment,
September 13, 2001, AP - Jerusalem Post, (22:15) Sharon compares Arafat to bin Laden,
September 14, 2001, Jerusalem Post, Foreign Press Association protests PA threats to journalists,
September 14, 2001, indymedia.org, CNN did not use images form 1991, by Márcio A. V. Carvalho,
September 16, 2001, The Jerusalem Post staff and AP, Palestinian Police confiscates footage at Gaza rally,
September 16, 2001, The Washington Post, "Palestinians Suppress Coverage of Crowds Celebrating Attacks; Journalists Are Threatened; Officials Contend Images Present a Distorted View of Public Opinion." by Lee Hockstader,
September 17, 2001, CNN News, OFFICIAL STATEMENT by Universidad de Campinas-Brasil.
September 17, 2001, Haaretz, Arab MKs refuse to condemn Palestinian joy over U.S. attacks, by Gideon Alon,
September 17, 2001, The Jerusalem Post, PA unapologetic on confiscating rally footage, by Lamia Lahoud,
September 17, 2001, The Daily Star [Lebanon] Hizbullah regrets lives lost in US,
September 18, 2001, The Daily Star [Lebanon] Aridi: media must improve its coverage,
September 20, 2001, CNN News, CNN statement about false claim it used old video, Brazilian university statement says no fact to original claim,
September 20, 2001, CNN News, Reuters statement on false claim it used old video,
September 21, 2001, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, Urban legends running rampant, heightening fears of public, by Marian Liu,
September 22, 2001, Wall Street Journal, Whooping It Up, In Beirut, even Christians celebrated the atrocity, by Elisabeth Burba,
October 4, 2001, The Beacon News - Aurora (IL) Believe it or not, 911 rumors run rampant, by Denise Crosby,


[10:00 a.m. in SGT (Singapore Time) is 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time]


September 11, 2001, The Times, UK, Palestinians go into the streets, dancing and shooting in the air and handing out sweets, to celebrate the news of the terrorist attack in the U.S.,

Attacks celebrated in West Bank

Thousands of Palestinians celebrated today's terror attacks in the United States, chanting "God is Great" and distributing sweets to passers-by, even as their leader, Yassir Arafat, said he was horrified.

The US Government has become increasingly unpopular in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past year, with many Palestinians accusing Washington of siding with Israel.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 3,000 people poured into the street shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the government targets in Washington.

Demonstrators distributed sweets in a traditional gesture of celebration. Several Palestinian gunmen shot in the air, while other marchers carried Palestinian flags. Nawal Abdel Fatah, 48, wearing a long black dress, threw sweets in the air, saying she was happy because "America is the head of the snake, America always stands by Israel in its war against us".


September 11, 2001, Agence France Presse, Palestinians in Lebanon Celebrate Anti-US Attacks,

Ain-al-Helweh, Lebanon (AFP) - Dozens of Palestinian refugees today fired into the air with joy at news of apparent anti-US terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, AFP correspondents witnessed.

Guerillas in military fatigues from various factions fired assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades into the air in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp at the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, one correspondent said.

Camp residents, some still in pyjamas, interrupted afternoon rest to rush down to the streets and fire assault rifles into the air, they said.

At the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Palestinian fighters also went out to the streets as soon as they heard the news from their television sets to fire into the air with joy, an AFP correspondent said.


September 11, 2001, 1:30 pm EST [Link] Reuters, Palestinians Celebrate Attacks with Gunfire, by Joseph Logan,

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Palestinians in Lebanon met news of devastating attacks on American targets Tuesday with jubilant gunfire, dancing and cheering, saying Israel's chief backer deserved such a punishment.

"This is the result of American policy. America and Israel are one," one Palestinian gunman said.

"This is the reaction required to confront the American and Israeli arrogance," said Mohamad Hallak, a 40-year-old Palestinian refugee from the southern Rashidiyeh camp in Tyre.

Firing rattled across Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and the West Bank as soon as television stations broke the news, carrying live footage of buildings on fire and collapsing and terrified Americans fleeing the stricken areas. Jubilant Palestinians took to the streets of refugee camps of Lebanon and the West Bank, waving Palestinian flags and distributing sweets to celebrate the attacks on major U.S. landmarks and government offices. Some Lebanese shared the joy.

"We're ecstatic. Let America have a taste of what we've tasted," said Ali Mareh, a Lebanese resident of Beirut.

"People are happy. America has always supported terrorism. They see how the innocent Palestinian children are killed and they back the Zionist army that does it. America has never been on the side of justice," said Samir, a Lebanese.

"This is the language that the United States understands and this is the way to stop America from helping the Zionist terrorists who are killing our children, men and women everyday," said Mohamed Rasheed, a Palestinian.

Lebanon is home to some to 360,000 Palestinian refugees. After four generations of exile, many Palestinians feel embittered against the United States for its support of Israel -- a feeling which has grown during the present uprising in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

"Today is a feast for the Palestinians. We do not differentiate between America and Israel. America is our prime enemy," added another Palestinian. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat condemned the attacks which leveled the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and struck the Pentagon in Washington.

Palestinians who have often burned U.S. flags in protests during their 11-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation also celebrated in the streets of Arab East Jerusalem. "I feel I am in a dream. I never believed that one day the United States would come to pay a price for its support to Israel," said Mustafa, a 24-year-old Palestinian gunman.

Several dozen Palestinian youths gathered in Arab East Jerusalem to celebrate as well, honking out wedding tunes on their car horns. "We are so happy that America was hit. America is against us in supporting Israel," Suleiman, one of the demonstrators, said. In Nablus, motorists honked their horns and gunmen fired into the air from assault rifles to cheer on the attacks which unfolded in the space of a few hours and stunned people around the globe.


September 11, 2002, [4:04 PM ET] Reuters, Arab Street Cheers, Govts Lament U.S. Attacks, by Joseph Logan,

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Arab leaders voiced shock and horror at devastating attacks that leveled symbols of American power on Tuesday, but a chorus of cheers rose from streets that resent U.S. backing of Israel.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites), Washington's key Arab ally, called the plane attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and left the Pentagon (news - web sites) in flames "horrific beyond imagination." Ordinary Egyptians, however, felt otherwise.

"Do you want to hear my honest opinion?" asked Samira Mohamed, a 26-year-old lawyer. "I was very happy when I heard the news. My happiness is based on my utter rejection of the U.S. treatment of the Middle East case."

The jubilation was echoed in other countries with large Palestinian populations, where sentiment has crystallized against the United States over the course of an 11-month Palestinian uprising against Israel.

While Jordan's King Abdullah called the attacks ``terrorist actions that contradict all...values," Jordanians and Palestinian refugees in Amman took to the streets in joy, some handing out sweets to celebrate.

SYRIA CONDEMNS, IRAQ, HIZBOLLAH SILENT

Syria, which has tense relations with the United States, strongly condemned the attacks.

"Syria condemns the sabotage destructive attacks which were directed against innocent civilians in the United States," a Syrian information official said.

"Syria expresses its sympathy with the American people and families of the victims who fell as a result of these attacks."

Iraq, at war with Washington, had no reaction.

The Islamist Hizbollah guerrilla group, which in the past carried out suicide bomb attacks against U.S targets in Lebanon, declined comment on Tuesday's attacks.

In Beirut, Lebanese citizens and Palestinian refugees said the attack was payback for U.S. policies in the region, chief among them its backing for the Jewish state that launched a bloody invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

"We're ecstatic. Let America have a taste of what we've tasted," said Ali Mareh, a Lebanese resident of Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was quick to offer condolences to President Bush (news - web sites).

"These tragic actions contradict all human and religious values," Hariri said in a statement.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) condemned the attacks, but celebratory gunfire echoed across the West Bank, when television stations showed footage of New York buildings on fire and collapsing and terrified Americans fleeing the carnage.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon greeted news of the devastating attacks with jubilant gunfire, dancing and cheering, saying Israel's chief backer deserved such a punishment.

"This is the result of American policy. America and Israel are one," one Palestinian gunman said.

"This is the reaction required to confront the American and Israeli arrogance," said Mohamad Hallak, a 40-year-old Palestinian refugee from the Rashidiyeh camp in Tyre.

SHARED JOY

Some Lebanese shared the joy.

"People are happy. America has always supported terrorism. They see how the innocent Palestinian children are killed and they back the Zionist army that does it. America has never been on the side of justice," said Samir, a Lebanese.

"This is the language that the United States understands and this is the way to stop America from helping the Zionist terrorists who are killing our children, men and women every day," said Palestinian Mohamed Rasheed.

Lebanon is home to some 360,000 Palestinian refugees. After four generations of exile, many feel embittered against the United States for its support of Israel -- a feeling which has grown during the present uprising in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinians who have often burned U.S. flags in protests during their 11-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation also celebrated in Arab East Jerusalem.

"I feel I am in a dream. I never believed that one day the United States would come to pay a price for its support to Israel," said Mustafa, a 24-year-old Palestinian gunman.

Several dozen Palestinian youths gathered in East Jerusalem to celebrate, honking out wedding tunes on their car horns.

"We are so happy that America was hit. America is against us in supporting Israel," Suleiman, one of the demonstrators, said.

In Nablus, motorists honked horns and gunmen fired into the air to cheer the attacks which unfolded within a few hours and stunned people around the globe.

Israel and the Palestinians have been locked in fighting since the Palestinian uprising against occupation erupted last September after peace talks stalled.

Reaction was mixed elsewhere in Lebanon. Many people, used to wars, bombardment and destruction of their cities, watched the news in disbelief and shock.

"Who could believe this is happening in the capitals of the world's only superpower?," said one Beirut resident.


A Palestinian fires his rifle in celebration at Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the port city Sidon in south Lebanon, September 11, 2001. Arab leaders voiced shock and horror at devastating attacks that leveled symbols of American power Tuesday, but a chorus of cheers rose from streets that resent U.S. backing of Israel. (Ali Hashisho/Reuters)


September 11, 2001, BBC News, Mixed response from Arab world, Heba Saleh in Cairo, [ 22:03 GMT 23:03 UK] by the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo,



Some Palestinians in Lebanon celebrated the attacks

Leaders in the Arab world have condemned the attacks in the United States as unimaginable and horrible.

But reactions have been mixed in a region where American policy is perceived as unfairly supportive of Israel.

The Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, said he was saddened by the attacks while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said he was shocked by what he described as an unbelievable disaster.

"Leaders in the region must be hoping that no Arab group will be implicated."

Mr Arafat added that he would be willing to help track down the perpetrators.

The Palestinian authority is said to have ordered youths in the occupied territories not to congregate or show any signs of jubilation.

But in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Lebanon, shots were fired in celebration and some said that as Israel's chief backer, the United States deserved this punishment.

It is a sentiment that is bound to be shared by many in the region, even those repulsed by the death of civilians.

Arab frustration

Arabs have been frustrated at America's support for Israel as it tries to put down the Palestinian uprising that has been raging for almost a year.



Egyptians have protested about US support for Israel

The Palestinian Islamist movements, Jihad and Hamas, disassociated themselves from the attacks but said that American policy was to blame.

Now, as American suspicions turn towards Palestinian groups and the dissident Saudi Islamist, Osama Bin Laden, leaders in the region must be hoping that no Arab group will be implicated.

Arab diplomacy has recently focused on trying to get the United States to exert pressure on Israel in order to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

An Arab link to the attacks can only harden American public opinion and make such pressure even less likely.


September 11, 2001, AFP, Palestinians in Lebanon Celebrate Anti-US Attacks,

Ain-al-Helweh, Lebanon (AFP) - Dozens of Palestinian refugees today fired into the air with joy at news of apparent anti-US terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, AFP correspondents witnessed.

Guerillas in military fatigues from various factions fired assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades into the air in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp at the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, one correspondent said.

Camp residents, some still in pyjamas, interrupted afternoon rest to rush down to the streets and fire assault rifles into the air, they said.

At the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Palestinian fighters also went out to the streets as soon as they heard the news from their television sets to fire into the air with joy, an AFP correspondent said.


September 11, 2001, Agence France Presse, "Bullseye," say Egyptians as they celebrate anti-US attacks,

CAIRO, Sept 11 (AFP) -

Egyptian students, taxi drivers and shopkeepers crowded round television sets stacked up in electrical store windows in downtown Cairo Tuesday evening, celebrating a string of elaborate attacks on New York and Washington.

"Bullseye," commented two taxi drivers as they watched footage of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York shrouded in plumes of smoke after two presumably hijacked planes slammed into them earlier in the day.

Another Egyptian man, Gawish Abdel Karim, told AFP he was pleased with the wave of violence in which another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, the heart of the US defence establishment.

"Nice work," said Abdel Karim, who drives a car for an Asian embassy.

"The Americans have forgotten that God exists. They have us by the throat and now they find themselves in a science fiction film scenario, but this time Rambo's not there to save the White House."

Anti-US sentiment has mushroomed on the streets of Egypt and other Arab countries over its widely-perceived support for Israel over the Palestinians in the past 11 months of violence in the Middle East.

As with other US facilities around the world, workers at US government offices and Egyptian citizens were taking security precautions, with only "non-essential" operations set to be covered on Wednesday.

However, US officials said there had been no credible or specific threat against US citizens or interests here.

Abdel Karim hailed the attacks as "the best thing that's happened since the October War," referring to the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war when Egyptian forces made a surprise attack on the Israeli army across the Suez Canal.

"Mabruk! Mabruk! (congratulations)", shouted a crowd of people huddled round the shop window.

Egypt, considered one of the "moderate" countries in the Middle East, is one of the United States' strongest allies in the region, being the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

But people on the streets do not necessarily see themselves as US allies.

"The Americans are cowards. They use other countries to hit us. They don't have the courage to meet us face to face," said Khalil Matar, 43, who works in a state-run soap factory. "The myth of the indestructible United States has gone up in smoke."

Polytechnic student Amira Ryad also vented her anger. "We saw the tower crash down," she said, referring to one of the two towers of the World Trade Center, both of which were razed by the attack.

"I only wish (US President) George Bush and his dear little baby (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon had been buried in there too," she added.

Fellow student Murad went as far as speculating that the United States was behind the attacks, "to find an excuse for the National Missile Defence system" that Bush wants to deploy to protect the United States from so-called rogue states, despite widespread global opposition.

"Those people are capable of killing their own people to prove they're right," he said.

Egyptian President Hosni "Mubarak should know that the people can no longer be humiliated, but of course he'll never declare war" on Israel, the student said.

Another taxi driver said he was going to make special prayers to thank him for the attacks against the US.


September 12, 2001, StAugustine.com, Terrorism experts split on cause of attack, by Peter Guinta, Staff Writer,

The group which organized and carried out the deadly attacks Tuesday in New York and Washington has not yet accepted responsibility for its bold, well-coordinated and suicidal plan.

Two University of Florida terrorism experts are unsure who is behind the four airline hijackings and fatal crashes into the Pentagon or World Trade Center, but they agree that the attack is probably retaliation against the U.S. for its actions in the Middle East.

Adam Silverman, a researcher who is completing his doctoral thesis on terrorism, said he believed the perpetrators were Palestinians.

''The last time something like this was attempted, using a plane as a flying bomb, was Christmas 1994, when the Islamic Salvation Front hijacked a French plane and planned to load it with explosives and crash it into Paris to protest French actions in Algeria,'' he said.





A group of children near east Jerusalem's Old City hold Palestinian flags as they flash the V-sign reacting to the news of a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001. AP Photo

Officials talked to them until soldiers stormed the plane.

Silverman said this similarity of tactics, plus the refusal of the recent Conference of Racism to condemn Israeli Zionism as racist, also seems to indicate a Palestinian connection.

In addition, the Palestinian National Movement was run out of Jordan in early September 1970 by the Jordanian Army. For some reason, the movement blamed the United States for putting pressure on Jordan.



A Palestinian woman receives free sweets from a vendor as groups of locals in east Jerusalem's Old City celebrate after hearing the news of a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. AP Photo

And Sept. 12 was the anniversary of the Black September attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

''The Palestinians have legitimate claims,'' Silverman said. ''But the Israelis also have a legitimate claim. There's blood on everyone's hands here.''

But professor Dennis Jett, dean of UF's International Center, said he thinks Osama Bin Laden is the one behind Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

''He has a loose network of terrorists and he puts up the money,'' Jett said, saying they were related to the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, the Kofar Towers in Saudi Arabia and American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Khartoum, the Sudan.

''He's denied it already, but he's probably been planning this for many, many months. He released a video a few months ago that said the struggle was still continuing,'' Jett said.

Jett himself has 28 years experience in the diplomatic corps, having served as ambassador to Mozambique and Peru, and as a diplomat in Argentina, Israel, Malawi and Liberia.

He now teaches a course in globalization at UF.

''Bin Laden has the track record to pull off coordinated attacks,'' he said. ''The Palestinians just want to intimidate the Israeli populace. Bin Laden's stated goal is to have the U.S. play less of a role in world affairs and in Saudi Arabia. The perception (in the Moslem world) is that we are using our influence to affect their culture and religion.''

Neither Silverman or Jett could suggest the next step for America. Silverman said he didn't think there is enough security at the airports.

''Israel sees a lot of this on a regular basis,'' he said. ''When you go to an airport in Europe, there are police officers carrying machine pistols. Here, the people running security are making $6.50 an hour. Certain things shouldn't be deregulated. One of those is security.''

Jett said the answer isn't to fire cruise missiles at Bin Laden.

''We tried that already. We shot 75 of them at $1 million each,'' he said. ''Our response will have to be more forceful and direct. We can pressure nations not to accept terrorists. If we can locate him, you can go after him. If you can't arrest him, killing him's a substitute.''



September 12, 2001, Associated Press / StAugustine.com, Palestinians rejoice, World watches in horror as terror unfolds in New York,

LONDON -- People around the world watched in horror as images of terror in the United States filled their television screens Tuesday. On the West Bank, Palestinians celebrated but most world leaders expressed solidarity with an America that looked more vulnerable than ever.

Iraqi television played a patriotic song that begins ''Down with America!'' as it showed the World Trade Center's towers falling.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden could be behind them.

''It is premature to level allegations against a person who is not in a position to carry out such attacks,'' said Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador in Pakistan. ''It was a well-organized plan and Osama has no such facilities.''




A Palestinian boy fires in the air at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001. Palestinians in Lebanon's refugee camps celebrated the attacks in the United States by firing in the air using all kinds of weapons. AP Photo

In the West Bank city of Nablus, thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets to celebrate, chanting ''God is Great'' and distributing candy to passers-by, even as their leader, Yasser Arafat, expressed horror over the attacks.



Two Palestinians fire in the air at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Palestinians in Lebanon's refugee camps celebrated the attacks in the United States by firing in the air using all kinds of weapons. AP Photo

Audiences everywhere were transfixed by the devastation, as both World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York and the Pentagon took a direct hit from an aircraft.

Key indexes sank on world stock markets and some European airlines canceled flights to the United States and recalled planes already in the air.

Canada tightened security in major cities and along the U.S. border. A Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman said on condition of anonymity that the border had been sealed, but traffic continued to flow at a crossing point at Buffalo. The U.S. border with Mexico remained open.

Many countries beefed up security at American embassies. The U.S. embassy in the United Arab Emirates closed indefinitely and the ambassador in Egypt suspended nonessential operations at U.S. facilities there.

Europeans offered condolences at American embassies -- Norwegians left bouquets of flowers in a park near the embassy in Oslo, Russians placed flowers near the Moscow mission, and in Budapest, there were dozens of candles.

U.S. armed forces in Europe and Asia were put on high alert. In Brussels, NATO called an emergency meeting for 3 p.m. while European Union institutions took special security measures, including partial evacuations.

Israel closed its airspace to foreign flights and evacuated staff from diplomatic missions and Jewish institutions around the world.

In Paris, Moscow, Warsaw and Berlin, police and security were put on high alert.

''It is impossible to fully comprehend the evil that would have conjured up such a cowardly and depraved assault upon thousands of innocent people,'' said Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to the American people, calling the attacks ''terrible tragedies.''

''This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today,'' said British Prime Minister Tony Blair. ''It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we the democracies of this world are going to have to come together and fight it together.''

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said ''there can be no doubt that these attacks are deliberate acts of terrorism, carefully planned and coordinated, and as such I condemn them utterly.''

Queen Elizabeth II said she watched developments in ''growing disbelief and total shock'' and offered her prayers to Americans.

President Jacques Chirac of France called the attacks ''monstrous.''

''There is no other word for it,'' he said in a televised statement.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set.

''I send my condolences to the president, the government and the people for this terrible incident,'' Arafat said. ''We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable.''

The leaders of Northern Ireland's joint Protestant-Catholic government, Reg Empey and Seamus Mallon, also offered condolences.

''As a society that has suffered from the effects of terrorism for over 30 years, we have some recognition and understanding of the hurt being felt by the American people,'' they wrote. ''It is hard to comprehend what could motivate anyone to cause such misery, destruction and deliberate loss of human life.''

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned called the attacks ''horrible and unimaginable.''

In Berlin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said ''my government condemns these terrorist attacks to the utmost.''

Airlines including British Airways, Scandinavia's SAS and Belgium's Sabena canceled flights across the Atlantic and recalled planes that were already in the air.

In Puerto Rico, people scrambled for news of relatives and friends in New York, where an estimated 2 million Puerto Ricans live.

Groups gathered on the corners of cobble-stoned streets in the colonial city of San Juan, clinging to strangers in search of more details.

''Dios mio, have mercy!'' exclaimed a whited-haired man, making the sign of the cross as he watched the second tower explode on TV.

Broadcasters around the world broke into programming to show images of the disaster. ''It's incredible. I thought I was watching a Hollywood movie,'' said Hong Kong school teacher Doris Tang.

In the Nigerian capital of Abuja, aghast hotel workers at the local Hilton stopped their chores to watch.

''If this can happen in America, then the whole world is not safe,'' said one, Augustine Okweche.


September 12, 2001, The Jerusalem Post / AP, [14:00]  Report: Armed Palestinians threatened photojournalists,

Reports indicate armed Palestinians trapped foreign photojournalists inside a Nablus hotel late yesterday while thousands took to the streets in celebration of the terror attacks in the United States.

The journalists were reportedly forced to remain confined in the hotel, guarded by armed Palestinians - both in uniform and wearing civilian clothes - while the festivities continued in the streets.

At least one photographer who did manage to capture images of the celebrations was told his life would be in danger if the pictures were eventually published.

Palestinian Police confiscates footage at Gaza rally

Jerusalem Post Staff and AP


September 12, 2001, The Jerusalem Post / Associated Press, (22:40 - Tues) Arafat horrified; Palestinians celebrating, by Mohammed Daraghmeh,


NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Thousands of Palestinians celebrated toiday's terror attacks in the United States, chanting "God is Great" and distributing candy to passers-by, even as their leader, Yasser Arafat, said he was horrified.

The US government has become increasingly unpopular in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past year of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, with many Palestinians accusing Washington of siding with Israel.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 3,000 people poured into the street shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and government targets in Washington.

Demonstrators distributed candy in a traditional gesture of celebration. Several Palestinian gunmen shot in the air, while other marchers carried Palestinian flags.

Nawal Abdel Fatah, 48, wearing a long black dress, threw sweets in the air, saying she was happy because "America is the head of the snake, America always stands by Israel in its war against us."

Her daughter Maysoon, 22, said she hoped the next attack would be launched against Tel Aviv.

In traditionally Arab eastern Jerusalem, there was a smaller gathering of about two dozen people, many of them young children led in chants by adults. Some drivers passing the scene honked their horns and flashed victory signs from their windows.

Arafat and his top advisers huddled at his seaside office in Gaza City, watching the events unfold on television. Arafat later emerged to speak to reporters.

"We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable," he said.

"We completely condemn this very dangerous attack, and I convey my condolences to the American people, to the American president and to the American administration, not only in my name but on behalf of the Palestinian people.

In the West Bank, meanwhile, the leader the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine denied his group was involved in the attacks.

Qais Abdel Rahim was reacting to reports that two Arab satellite stations in the Gulf had received anonymous claims of responsibility on behalf of the DFLP, a radical PLO faction. Abdel Rahim said his group condemned the attacks.


September 12, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (23:00 - Tues) Old City residents react with joy & horror 

On a visit throughout Jerusalem's Old City, JPost Radio's Dave Bender heard a spectrum of opinions about today's horrific terrorist attacks along the US eastern seaboard.

Some Palestinians celebrated upon hearing about the attack, calling it a fit and proper response to US support for Israel. Others were saddened by the scope of the horror.

Local Christian residents of the Old City were dismayed, somber.

American Christian tourists were simply frightened.

A group of American Jewish seminary students from New York were worried for the fate of their families, still trapped on Manhattan island.


September 12, 2001; [6:02 p.m. EDT] The Associated Press, AP Protests Threats to Cameraman,

JERUSALEM -- The Associated Press on Wednesday protested to the Palestinian Authority about threats against a freelance cameraman who filmed Palestinians celebrating terror attacks in the United States.

The videographer, on assignment for Associated Press Television News, was summoned to a Palestinian Authority security office and told that the material must not be aired. Calls in the name of the Tanzim militia, an armed group associated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, warned him he would be held responsible and made what he interpreted as threats on his life.

Several Palestinian Authority officials spoke to AP in Jerusalem urging that the material not be broadcast. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority "cannot guarantee the life" of the cameraman if the footage was broadcast.

The cameraman then requested that the material not be aired. In light of the danger, Associated Press Television News has not released the footage of the rally in Nablus.

AP news stories reported worldwide on the demonstration in Nablus and AP distributed still pictures and video of similar rallies in east Jerusalem, Lebanon and elsewhere. An AP still photographer did not take pictures of the Nablus rally after being warned at the scene not to do so.

The protest by AP Chief of Bureau Dan Perry said, "I ask the assurances of the Palestinian Authority that you will protect our journalists from threats and attempts at intimidation and that no harm would come to our freelance cameraman from distribution of the film."


September 12, 2001 [10:25 PM SGT] Agence France Press,

Excerpt: On Tuesday night, Palestinian security services barred photographers from recording scenes of joy in Nablus as crowds sang the praises of alleged Arab terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, a prime suspect in the unclaimed attacks on the United States.

*** From: Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)


September 12, 2001, IMRA, PA Threatens to Kill News Workers If They Broadcast Photos of Celebrating

Israel Radio correspondent Danny Zaken reported on the noon news program that while hundreds of Palestinians went out to the streets in many cities in Judea and Samaria (but not Gaza) to celebrate the attacks against the United States -- distributing candy, waving flags, honking horns and shooting in the air in joy — coverage by the foreign news was typically limited to east Jerusalem. According to Zaken, at least two news organizations, a large news agency [now known to be AP] and a foreign TV network, had footage of the celebrations in Nablus and Ramallah that included Palestinian policemen shooting in the air in joy within a crowd of hundreds. They declined, Zaken reports, to broadcast the material after senior officials in the Palestinian Authority--including PA ministers who are frequently interviewed by the media — contacted the heads of the news organizations, threatening the lives of the cameramen and stringers in the field and that if they broadcast the reports that they would not be allowed to cover events within the Authority in the future. The news agencies declined to comment to Israel Radio.


September 12, 2001, St. Petersburg Times, Pained world condemns acts, but some cheer. World leaders express sorrow to President Bush even as some Palestinians and Iraqi television revel in the terrorist attacks. Compiled from Times wires,



[AP photos]
Reacting to news of the terrorist attack Tuesday, children wave Palestinian flags and chant anti-U.S. slogans near east Jerusalem's Old City..

Governments around the world offered condolences to the United States after the terrorists attacks Tuesday, but thousands of Palestinians celebrated in the West Bank and in Lebanese refugee camps.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, Palestinians cheered and distributed candy to passers-by, and Iraqi television played a patriotic song that began "Down with America!" as it showed the World Trade Center towers collapsing.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat offered his sympathy to Americans and said he was horrified by the devastating attacks. "We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable," he said.

Leaders around the world, including most in the Middle East, offered messages of support.

Afghanistan's Taleban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, who has been given asylum in Afghanistan, could be behind them.

"It is premature to level allegations against a person who is not in a position to carry out such attacks," said Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taleban ambassador in Pakistan. "It was a well-organized plan, and Osama has no such facilities."

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, whom the United States has accused of backing international terrorism, called the attacks "horrifying" and urged Muslim aid groups to offer help "regardless of political considerations or differences between America and the peoples of the world."

Key indexes sank on world stock markets, and many European and Asian airlines canceled flights to the United States and recalled planes already in the air.

Britain and Belgium banned commercial flights over their capitals, and Britain warned its citizens traveling in the United States to beware of possible further attacks. Israel closed its airspace to foreign flights and evacuated staff from diplomatic missions and Jewish institutions around the world.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 3,000 people poured into the streets shortly after the attacks began, chanting "God is Great" and handing out candy in a traditional gesture of celebration.

There were no reports of celebrations elsewhere in the West Bank and Gaza.

Sheik Ahmed Yassin, whose Islamic militant Hamas group has carried out a series of suicide bombings in Israel, said he was not interested in exporting such attacks to the United States.

"We are not ready to move our struggle outside the occupied Palestinian land. We are not prepared to open international fronts, however much we criticize the unfair American position," Yassin said in Gaza City.

In Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest refugee camp, where about 75,000 Palestinians live, revelers fired weapons in the air, witnesses said. Similar celebratory gunfire was heard at the Rashidiyeh camp near the southern city of Tyre.

Other reaction:

BRITAIN: Prime Minister Tony Blair asked citizens to join him "in sending the deepest condolences to President Bush and to the American people." He appealed for democracies to band together to fight mass terrorism, which he called "the new evil."

MEXICO: "Our support goes to all the victims and their families, victims of this act of terrorism," said Mexican President Vicente Fox. "We reiterate our total and strenuous rejection of terrorism."

RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin said in a telegram to President Bush that he was "deeply shocked" and called for a coordinated international fight against terrorism. Putin met with his defense and security chiefs to discuss the attack, put troops on alert and ordered that security around government buildings be increased, according to reports.

PANAMA: President Mireya Moscoso went on national television to deny reports that U.S. military forces had taken control of the Panama Canal. She said the canal was operating normally, "although there is a higher level of vigilance than normal."

VATICAN: Pope John Paul II condemned the "unspeakable horror" of the attacks, saying he was praying for the victims and their families.

"Commending the victims to almighty God's mercy, I implore his strength upon all involved in rescue efforts and in caring for the survivors," John Paul wrote in a letter to Bush. "I beg God to sustain you and the American people in this hour of suffering and trial."

GERMANY: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder wrote in a letter of condolence to Bush: "My government condemns these terrorist acts in the harshest te rms. The German people stand at the side of the United States of America in these difficult hours."

CHINA: Beijing said it was "horrified," and President Jiang Zemin expressed "grave concern for the safety of Chinese in the U.S."

EGYPT: President Hosni Mubarak called the attacks "horrible and unimaginable."


September 12, 2001, The Daily Star [Lebanon], Palestinians celebrate 'Support to our intifada', by Mohammed Zaatari, Daily Star correspondent,

Palestinian refugees spilled into the streets of their shantytowns in Lebanon to rejoice at the carnage in New York and Washington on Tuesday, defying their own leadership's firm condemnation of the apparent terrorist strikes.

Refugees toured the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon, firing their rifles in the air in a noisy display of glee.

"Whoever protects terror should know how to protect himself," one elderly man said.

Women ululated and bagpipers played patriotic songs as the refugees converged on the vegetable market, the largest square in the camp.

Shopowners handed out sweets as small television sets aired time and again images of the World Trade Center’s twin towers on fire and tumbling down after the attacks.

The cheering grew louder when the television spots shifted to the American capital to show a section of the Pentagon on fire after it had been hit by a third aircraft.

The scenes were similar in the camps of Rashidieh, near Tyre; Bourj al-Barajneh in Beirut; and in the North’s Nahr al-Bared, where Palestinian frustration with American support for Israel during the latest violence has been on the rise.

"What happened to America today vindicates the Palestinians and all those suffering the injustice this big power has been imposing on the world," said Ain al-Hilweh’s Ahmad Hussein, who is in his late teens.

Fatima Khalil said: "It's like an earthquake that proves that justice will ultimately triumph. This lends support to our intifada."

Issam Mohammed, in his early teens, said that he wanted to see President Bush "lying in the basement somewhere, fearful for his life, to understand what the Palestinians are going through day after day."

Nearby young men and women sang together: "Where to? To Ramallah. Where to?

To Ramallah."


September 12, 2001, IMRA, PA threatens to kill news workers if broadcast photos of celebrating Palestinians,

Israel Radio correspondent Danny Zaken reported on the noon news program that while hundreds of Palestinians went out to the streets in many cities in Judea and Samaria (but not Gaza) to celebrate the attacks against the United States - distributing candy, waving flags, honking horns and shooting in the air in joy, coverage by the foreign news was typically limited to east Jerusalem.

According to Zaken, at least two news organizations, a large news agency and a foreign TV network, had footage of the celebrations in Nablus and Ramallah that included Palestinian policemen shooting in the air in joy within a crowd of hundreds.

They declined, Zaken reports, to broadcast the material after senior officials in the Palestinian Authority - including PA ministers who are frequently interviewed by the media - contacted the heads of the news

organizations, threatening the lives of the cameramen and stringers in the field and that if they broadcast the reports that they would not be allowed to cover events within the Authority in the future.

The news agencies declined to comment to Israel Radio.


September 12 2001, USA Today, Palestinian leaders try to repair image, by Matthew Kalman,

JERUSALEM — Palestinian leaders moved Wednesday to repair the political damage done by news footage of Palestinians celebrating in the streets after hearing of Tuesday's terror strikes in the USA. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority's president, was filmed donating blood for the victims. Arab League spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi hastily organized a candlelight vigil at the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem nearly 24 hours after hundreds of Israelis flocked to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv in a spontaneous outpouring of grief. Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman used tougher measures to avoid an international backlash in response to apparent Palestinian jubilation. Abdel Rahman called international news agencies and said the safety of their staff could not be guaranteed unless they withdrew the embarrassing footage of Palestinian police firing joyfully in the air.

Such threats appeared to succeed in suppressing immediate release of video showing large street celebrations in Ramallah, Bethlehem and other West Bank towns.

Israelis, hundreds of whom lined up to donate blood and leave flowers at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said Tuesday's strikes may have helped convey to Americans a little of what they have been feeling over the past year of violence. The Palestinian territories have been closed for most of that time to prevent attacks inside Israel, and the Israeli government has targeted and assassinated more than 50 suspected terrorists.

"Now that they are experiencing this horror, Americans and other foreign countries might begin to realize how we Israelis feel every day," said Shira Buchler, 23, a teacher in Jerusalem. "The only way to rid the world of terror is to hunt down these animals before they destroy us all. If we keep giving Arafat chance after chance, the terror groups he is giving sanctuary to will just grow and grow."

Former U.S. secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger hinted that the United States might have to adopt measures similar to Israel's. "This really is a war with terrorism, and we need to be prepared to act as if we are at war," Eagleburger told CNN on Tuesday. "And that does not necessarily mean that you have to strike back only at those that you know were the perpetrators of this thing."

Using Saudi financier Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan, where bin Laden has received safe haven, as a starting point, Eagleburger suggested a policy of targeting terrorists and the governments that support them. "We do know that the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan has mothered Osama Bin Laden for years," he said. "They need to be hit."

He added that the policy should not be limited to bin Laden: "There is only one way to begin to deal with people like this, and that is you have to kill some of them, even if they are not immediately, directly involved in this thing."

Gerald Steinberg of Bar-Ilan University in Israel said this sounds similar to Israeli policy towards Palestinian terrorism. "There are clear indications that the U.S. public and officials are suddenly aware of the Israeli situation," he said. "Potentially, it's a very fundamental shift, with the U.S. taking the lead rather than staying neutral and acting cautiously."

He said that Americans, armed with a new understanding of the "horrifying nature of terror" and the willingness of people to commit suicide in order to kill thousands, may understand the thinking in Israel. "Previously, it was not understandable from the perspective of America that this hatred could exist and that Israel was doing its best to protect itself from that," Steinberg said.

Israel intensified its hunt for Palestinian militants Wednesday. It raided a West Bank town and two nearby villages. Seven Palestinians, including three suspected Islamic militants and an 11-year-old girl, were killed.

Senior Palestinian officials accused Israel of exploiting the world's horror over the terror in the USA to step up its strikes against Palestinian targets. Ashrawi said Israel is "using this tremendous tragedy as a cover for an escalation against the Palestinians."

In Bethlehem's Dehaishe refugee camp, Palestinian community leaders condemned the strikes in the USA and said there had been no celebrations Tuesday. But even after much prompting in Arabic to stay on message, ordinary Palestinians were unable to stifle their pleasure at America's downfall.

"I've never been so happy in my life as when I heard the news," said Khalil Abu Laban, a father of seven. "The Americans are responsible for everything. 'The friend of your enemy is your enemy,' " he said, quoting from religious texts. "I am against killing of innocent civilians, but the Americans are bad. This is good for us, the Palestinians."

"The Jews are assassinating, destroying and wounding Palestinians every day," said his wife, Aisheh.
"Let them feel the suffering we have been feeling for a long time."


September 12, 2001, forums.dpreview.com, CNN Using 1991 Footage..., by Márcio A.V. de Carvalho,

CNN USING 1991 FOOTAGE... of celebrating Palistinians to manipulate you (english) by Marcio 10:32pm Wed Sep 12 '01

I'd like to add some ideas from here, down south. There's an important point in the power of press, specifically the power of CNN.

All around the world we are subjected to 3 or 4 huge news distributors, and one of them - as you well know - is CNN. Very well, I guess all of you have been seeing (just as I've been) images from this company. In particular, one set of images called my attencion: the Palestinians celebrating the bombing, out on the streets, eating some cake and making funny faces for the camera.

Well, THOSE IMAGES WERE SHOT BACK IN 1991!!! Those are images of Palestinians celebrating the invasion of Kuwait! It's simply unacceptable that a super-power of cumminications as CNN uses images which do not correspond to the reality in talking about so serious an issue.

A teacher of mine, here in Brazil, has videotapes recorded in 1991, with the very same images; he's been sending emails to CNN, Globo (the major TV network in Brazil) and newspapers, denouncing what I myself classify as a crime against the public opinion. If anyone of you has access to this kind of files, serch for it. In the meanwhile, I'll try to 'put my hands' on a copy of this tape.

But now, think for a moment about the impact of such images. Your people is hurt, emotionally fragile, and this kind broadcast have very high possibility of causing waves of anger and rage against Palestinians. It's simply irresponsible to show images such as those.

........Best regards, and the hope that everything is resolved for the best of all of us

Mrcio A. V. Carvalho, State University of Campinas - Brazil,


September 13, 2001, Middle East Newsline, Palestinian Authority threatens camera crews covering celebrations,  Special to World Tribune.com, Thursday,

RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority has muzzled coverage of Palestinian celebrations of the Islamic suicide attacks against the United States.

Palestinian sources said PA officials stopped several television crews from broadcasting Palestinian celebrations of the suicide jet crashes in New York and Washington. They said PA Information Minister Yasser Abbed Rabbo and his aides telephoned foreign broadcast crews and said the PA would not be able to guarantee their safety if the footage is broadcast.

The sources said Fatah agents loyal to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat warned Palestinian cameramen to either hand over their videotape or refuse to relay footage of Palestinian celebrations for international broadcast.

The result, the sources said, is that virtually all television crews failed to broadcast the tape of the celebrations. They said this includes PA officers and Fatah gunmen in the West Bank firing in the air to celebrate the kamikaze attacks. The wildest celebrations were reported in Nablus.

In Ramallah, Fatah gunmen captured a Palestinian television cameraman who worked for a major news agency. The gunmen warned he would be killed if the footage filmed of Palestinian celebrations is aired.

For his part, Arafat has expressed outrage over the attacks. On Wednesday, Arafat donated blood for the victims of the U.S. suicide missions.

At the same time, Abbed Rabbo appealed to Palestinians not to publicly display happiness over the attacks in the United States. The information minister told PA radio that such expressions would harm Palestinian interests.

Television journalists refused to publicly acknowledge the pressure. They said most of the Palestinian celebrations were broadcast.

"We are doing our work as well as we should," Connie Mus, a former chairman of the Foreign Press Association, said.


September 13, 2001,  The Associated Press, (22:15) Sharon compares Arafat to bin Laden

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon compared Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden, an Israeli official said today.

Israel radio quoted Sharon as saying, "Everyone has his own bin Laden. Arafat is our bin Laden." Sharon made the remark in a conversation with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the radio said.

Sharon told Powell that Arafat has followed the "ideology" of bin Laden – a leading suspect in organizing the attacks this week on the United States. Arafat is responsible for terror strikes against Israel during the past year of fighting, Sharon said, according to his spokesman Ra'anan Gissin.

"Unfortunately Arafat has adhered to that philosophy for the past year since he launched these attacks," Gissin said.

Palestinians, meanwhile, said Sharon's comment was intended to give Israel an excuse to escalate military action against the Palestinians.

Those who make such a connection only want to have an excuse "to exert their aggression and continue the killing of the Palestinian people," said Sakher Habash, a leader in Arafat's Fatah movement.


September 13, Jerusalem Post, Jewish leaders stress Palestinians' support of attacks, by Melissa Radler

NEW YORK (September 13) - Lashing out at Palestinians who celebrated Tuesday's carnage and skyrocketing death toll in New York, American Jewish Congress president Jack Rosen urged the international community to "reign in terror and demand justice for these vicious attacks."

"I don't think Palestinians celebrating the death of thousands of Americans should go unchallenged," said Rosen, after images of Palestinians on the streets of Nablus and Jerusalem rejoicing and handing out candy after the attacks were broadcast around the world.

The celebrations were quickly followed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's official condemnation of the attack.

As recently as Tuesday, however, Palestinian Media Watch reported that suicide bombers were being lauded in a variety of PA-controlled newspapers. In its September 11 edition, the Gaza daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida called suicide bombers "the salt of the earth, the engines of history... They are the most honorable [people] among us." The statement was documented by Palestinian Media Watch in a special report released yesterday.

"I think we need to go beyond identifying terrorists and the usual list of rogue states and get to the root of the problem. Arafat has got to be put in a position of arresting terrorists. There need to be consequences to their actions," said Rosen.

Rosen also called on Arab countries considered moderate by the US, including Jordan and Egypt, to stand firm against terror, and he called on United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to take action against nations sheltering terrorists.

"Those states that harbor [terrorists] and finance them, leaders who promote or permit terrorists to exist, those states need to stop funding them. I think it's time for our friends around the world to demand that this kind of activity end or we're going to stop doing business and take action," said Rosen.

At the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Rabbi Marvin Hier also urged Americans to take notice of those celebrating Tuesday's attack. "Make no mistake about it, those people who find joy amidst our suffering are the cheerleaders who keep international terrorism alive," Hier said in a release.

Contacted Tuesday afternoon in Paris, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations, Mortimer Zuckerman, expressed shock at film he saw of Palestinian children dancing in the streets after hearing of the horrible attacks.

"It brings home again that this is not an Arab-Israeli conflict. It is a conflict that has been widened to include Western civilization and culture," said Zuckerman.

Miriam Shaviv adds from Jerusalem:

The Associated Press yesterday refused to comment on reports that it had refrained from broadcasting film of Palestinians celebrating the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Tuesday following pressure from the PA.

"I have nothing to say about this matter at this time," said AP Israel bureau chief Dan Perry.

A foreign correspondent, however, told The Jerusalem Post that PA cabinet secretary Abdel Ahmed Rahman had threatened the AP producers that if they broadcast their pictures, "they would not be able to guarantee their safety." Rahman was not available for comment.

The film showed Palestinian policemen celebrating and shooting into the air, in addition to civilians dancing, senior Israeli sources said.

The film was reportedly shot in the West Bank town of Nablus, where more than 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets, and in the Balata refugee camp.

Pictures broadcast by other foreign media outlets of Palestinians celebrating the terror attacks were mostly from east Jerusalem. No foreign crew captured on film other parades of celebration reported to have taken place in Bethlehem, Tulkarm, or the Gaza Strip.

The PA made threats to stop foreign press from broadcasting scenes it felt reflect poorly on the Palestinians before, when Italian TV correspondent Riccardo Cristiano captured on film the lynching of two reserve soldiers by a mob of Palestinian rioters in Ramallah in October 2000. Riccardo lost both his GPO press card and his Jerusalem posting after sending a letter to the Al-Hayat al-Jadida in which he denied that the film had been shot by his own station.


September 13, 2001, The Jerusalem Post, Israel to AP: Release film of Palestinian celebrations,

Israel is demanding The Associated Press release a videotape of Palestinian celebrations held in the wake of Tuesday's terror attacks in the United States.

The video reportedly captured Palestinian Authority security personnel participating in celebrations around the territories.

Israel claims the Palestinian photographer who shot the film and passed it on to The Associated Press received death threats.

Ra'anan Gissin, a senior aide to Sharon, called the incident "journalism under terror."

The Associated Press yesterday refused to comment on reports that it had refrained from broadcasting the film following pressure from the Palestinian Authority.


September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (08:15) Jericho: PA walls come tumblin' down

IDF armored forces entered the city of Jericho overnight and demolished several offices belonging to Palestinian Authority security services.

Some 22 tanks, providing cover for three bulldozers, entered the area around 02:00, according to Palestinian sources.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the Jericho incursion.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who lives in Jericho, drew a connection between the incursions and the terror attacks in New York and Washington Tuesday that destroyed the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.

"The Israelis are using the tragedy of the events in New York and Washington, feeling that the attention of the world is elsewhere," he said. "There was nothing to provoke this."

He told The Associated Press that he had called US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, the American Middle East envoy, and European Union envoy Miguel Moratinos to complain about the Israeli move.

A cloud of smoke and an orange glow could be seen at the Aqbat Jaber refugee camp area at the
south end of the town, near the Oasis Casino, a main Jericho landmark and attraction that has been closed down at the beginning of the Palestinian-Israeli fighting nearly a year ago.

The main official Palestinian buildings in Jericho, an oasis town in the arid Jordan River valley, are an old military base used as police headquarters and a prison.

West Bank Preventive Security chief Jibril Rajoub has an office in the town, and Erekat's office is located in a complex of Palestinian Authority buildings in Jericho.

To read more about events in the West Bank last night, click here.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)


September 13, 2001, Middle East Newsline / Special to World Tribune.com, Palestinian Authority threatens camera crews covering celebrations, Thursday,

RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority has muzzled coverage of Palestinian celebrations of the Islamic suicide attacks against the United States.

Palestinian sources said PA officials stopped several television crews from broadcasting Palestinian celebrations of the suicide jet crashes in New York and Washington. They said PA Information Minister Yasser Abbed Rabbo and his aides telephoned foreign broadcast crews and said the PA would not be able to guarantee their safety if the footage is broadcast.

The sources said Fatah agents loyal to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat warned cameramen to either hand over their videotape or refuse to relay footage of Palestinian celebrations for international broadcast.

The result, the sources said, is that virtually all television crews failed to broadcast the tape of the celebrations. They said this includes PA officers and Fatah gunmen in the West Bank firing in the air to celebrate the kamikaze attacks. The wildest celebrations were reported in Nablus.

In Ramallah, Fatah gunmen captured a Palestinian television cameraman who worked for a major news agency. The gunmen warned he would be killed if the footage filmed of Palestinian celebrations is aired.

For his part, Arafat has expressed outrage over the attacks. On Wednesday, Arafat donated blood for the victims of the U.S. suicide missions.

At the same time, Abbed Rabbo appealed to Palestinians not to publicly display happiness over the attacks in the United States. The information minister told PA radio that such expressions would harm Palestinian interests.

Television journalists refused to publicly acknowledge the pressure. They said most of the Palestinian celebrations were broadcast.

"We are doing our work as well as we should," Connie Mus, a former chairman of the Foreign Press Association, said.
_________________________________________________________________________________

September 13, 2001, Camera Alert: PA Blocks Coverage of Palestinians Cheering 9/11 Attacks, by Lee Green,

According to the AP, Israel Radio and the Jerusalem Post, the Palestinians threatened news organizations and their workers in an effort to stop the broadcast of video, and the publishing of photographs, showing large crowds of Palestinians in Nablus and Ramallah joyfully celebrating the deadly 9/11 terrorist attacks against Americans. Presumably they understood that such video and photos would be repugnant to Americans — and millions of others around the world — and might damage their image.

Photographers and stringers (mostly Palestinians themselves) were forced by Palestinian gunmen to stop filming the celebrations (see Agence France Press report), and they were threatened with death if their video was broadcast. The news organizations they work for were told that everyone from their news organization would lose their access to PA officials and be unable to cover events in PA territory if they broadcast any video or photos of the large celebrations.

An AP photographer was specifically threatened with death if his photos were published. AP has published a report about the threat, but has caved in to the PA's request not to publish these photos.

Thus far, only videos and photos of small crowds celebrating in eastern Jerusalem and Lebanon have been broadcast/published. It appears the Palestinian intimidation tactics are working to keep the most damning scenes from Ramallah and Nablus off American (and worldwide) television screens and out of the newspapers.

The attacks on Tuesday were not only heartbreakingly deadly, but have also served to threaten forever our freedom from fear for our personal safety, our freedom of movement, and sadly our freedom to welcome people from all over the world with an attitude of trust. Now, our freedom of the press, our right to get unfiltered news, is under assault by Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. AP and other news organizations should be urged to broadcast any video and/or photos they have of celebrations by Palestinian crowds in Nablus and Ramallah. Only by exposing and standing up to intimidation can it be stopped.

Some reporters have mentioned that Palestinian celebrations were minimal and isolated and others have reported that thousands attended such celebrations in the streets of Ramallah and Nablus. Let members of the public see the video, the photos, so they can judge for ourselves how "minimal" or large the celebrations were. It is vital at this time -- when our leaders are pondering what response to make and which governments they can count on as true allies -- that we receive accurate information about potentially widespread support for the terrorist attacks by the Palestinian public and their security forces.

At the very least, the intimidation of photojournalists and the manipulation of the news by the Palestinian Authority should be a story in and of itself. Please urge news organizations to report in-depth on this important story. Thank AP for publishing the story about the death threat to their videographer, but urge them to publish the photos.

PA NEWSPAPER PRAISES SUICIDE BOMBERS

Similarly, it is notable that when Arafat's words of condolence were so widely broadcast by many in the media, few in the press made note that on the very day of the attacks, the PA-controlled daily newspaper published an article praising suicide bombers as "the engines of history...the most honorable among us."

See below for articles from AP, Agence France Press, IMRA, the Jerusalem Post and PMW.

ACTION ITEMS: [In the original alert, action items and contact information were listed here.]

*** AP WIRE: 09/12/2001 6:00 pm ET
AP Protests Threats to Freelance Cameraman Who Filmed Palestinian Joy
JERUSALEM (AP) The Associated Press on Wednesday protested to the Palestinian Authority about threats against a freelance cameraman who filmed Palestinians celebrating terror attacks in the United States. The videographer, on assignment for Associated Press Television News, was summoned to a Palestinian Authority security office and told that the material must not be aired. Calls in the name of the Tanzim militia, an armed group associated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, warned him he would be held responsible and made what he interpreted as threats on his life. Several Palestinian Authority officials spoke to AP in Jerusalem urging that the material not be broadcast. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority “cannot guarantee the life” of the cameraman if the footage was broadcast. The cameraman then requested that the material not be aired. In light of the danger, APTN has not released the footage of the rally in Nablus. AP news stories reported worldwide on the demonstration in Nablus and AP distributed still pictures and video of similar rallies in east Jerusalem, Lebanon and elsewhere. An AP still photographer did not take pictures of the Nablus rally after being warned at the scene not to do so. The protest by AP Chief of Bureau Dan Perry said, “I ask the assurances of the Palestinian Authority that you will protect our journalists from threats and attempts at intimidation and that no harm would come to our freelance cameraman from distribution of the film."

*** AFP REPORT: Wednesday, September 12 10:25 PM SGT
Agence France Press
Excerpt: On Tuesday night, Palestinian security services barred photographers from recording scenes of joy in Nablus as crowds sang the praises of alleged Arab terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, a prime suspect in the unclaimed attacks on the United States.

*** From: Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
Date: 12 September 2001
PA Threatens to Kill News Workers If They Broadcast Photos of Celebrating

Israel Radio correspondent Danny Zaken reported on the noon news program that while hundreds of Palestinians went out to the streets in many cities in Judea and Samaria (but not Gaza) to celebrate the attacks against the United States -- distributing candy, waving flags, honking horns and shooting in the air in joy — coverage by the foreign news was typically limited to east Jerusalem. According to Zaken, at least two news organizations, a large news agency [now known to be AP] and a foreign TV network, had footage of the celebrations in Nablus and Ramallah that included Palestinian policemen shooting in the air in joy within a crowd of hundreds. They declined, Zaken reports, to broadcast the material after senior officials in the Palestinian Authority -- including PA ministers who are frequently interviewed by the media — contacted the heads of the news organizations, threatening the lives of the cameramen and stringers in the field and that if they broadcast the reports that they would not be allowed to cover events within the Authority in the future. The news agencies declined to comment to Israel Radio.

*** Jerusalem Post September 12 , 2001
(Website: Latest News): Armed Palestinians threatened photojournalists. Reports indicate armed Palestinians trapped foreign photojournalists inside a Nablus hotel late yesterday while thousands took to the streets in celebration of the terror attacks in the United States…

*** Excerpt from 9/12/01 report from Palestinian Media Watch [not to be confused with the pro-Palestinian PMW]:
Within hours after the horrific terrorist attacks in the United States, there were spontaneous outbreaks of rejoicing in the streets of the Palestinian Authority... Arafat's denunciation of the attacks, which continues to be broadcast, is in direct contradiction to the atmosphere of hatred he has been promoting through his tightly controlled media. The following are but a few examples: The suicide bombers of today are the noble successors of their noble predecessors... the Lebanese suicide bombers, who taught the US Marines a tough lesson in [Lebanon]...and then, with no preconditions, they threw the last of the remaining enemy [Israeli] soldiers out of the [security] zone. These suicide bombers are the salt of the earth, the engines of history...They are the most honorable [people] among us... [Al Hayat Al Jadida - Official Palestinian Authority daily, Sept. 11, 2001]


September 13, 2001, IMRA, Interview: AP Bureau Chief on Palestinian death threats, by Aaron Lerner,

IMRA interviewed AP Bureau Chief Dan Perry, in English, on 13 September, 2001.

IMRA: Yesterday you put out a story that you were not going to release footage of Palestinians celebrating the attacks against the United States because of death threats. Has the situation changed? Has the Palestinian Authority reassured you that no one would be killed of the footage is released?

Dan Perry: We are acting to assure the safety of our staff. The safety of our staff is paramount. At this point we believe there to be a serious threat to our staff if the video is released and we have protested this to the PA.


September 13, 2001, IMRA, AP Protests Death Threats to Freelance Cameraman by PA, Update,

Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001; The Associated Press, AP Protests Threats to Cameraman, 6:02 p.m. EDT

[IMRA: Israel Radio Correspondent Danny Zaken reported this morning that Yasser Arafat's Tanzim released the cameraman. It is not clear if the embargoed footage has been broadcast yet. The most important lesson from this experience is that the cameraman's safety was secured by VOCAL PROTEST rather than understandably terrified silence.]

JERUSALEM -- The Associated Press on Wednesday protested to the Palestinian Authority about threats against a freelance cameraman who filmed Palestinians celebrating terror attacks in the United States.

The videographer, on assignment for Associated Press Television News, was summoned to a Palestinian Authority security office and told that the material must not be aired. Calls in the name of the Tanzim militia, an armed group associated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, warned him he would be held responsible and made what he interpreted as threats on his life.

Several Palestinian Authority officials spoke to AP in Jerusalem urging that the material not be broadcast. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority "cannot guarantee the life" of the cameraman if the footage was broadcast.

The cameraman then requested that the material not be aired. In light of the danger, APTN has not released the footage of the rally in Nablus. AP news stories reported worldwide on the demonstration in Nablus and AP distributed still pictures and video of similar rallies in east Jerusalem, Lebanon and elsewhere. An AP still photographer did not take pictures of the Nablus rally after being warned at the scene not to do so.

The protest by AP Chief of Bureau Dan Perry said, "I ask the assurances of the Palestinian Authority that you will protect our journalists from threats and attempts at intimidation and that no harm would come to our freelance cameraman from distribution of the film."


September 13, 2001, IMRA, Text: Foreign Press Association in Israel condemns PA for threatening journalists, [As reported in The Jerusalem Post website 13 September 2001]

Foreign journalists based in Israel have condemned the Palestinian Authority's harassment of journalists and its suppression of videotape made of Palestinian celebrations in the wake of the terror attacks in the United States this week.

The Foreign Press Association in Israel released the following statement relating to this incident:

"The FPA expresses deep concern over the harassment of journalists by the Palestinian Authority as police forces and armed gunmen tried to prevent photo and video coverage of Tuesday's rally in Nablus where hundreds of Palestinians celebrated the terror attacks in NY and Washington.

"We strongly condemn the direct threats made against local videographers by local militia members and the attitude of Palestinian officials who made no effort to counter the threats, control the situation, or to guarantee the safety of the journalists and the freedom of the press.

"We call on the PA to ensure freedom of the press and the free flow of information and to prevent elements operating within PA jurisdiction from making or carrying out threats that aim to impede this and effectively impose censorship. We hold the PA fully responsible for the safety of each and every journalist operating within their areas, especially those who were filming and covering Tuesday's events in Nablus."


September 13, 2001, IMRA, Interview: Palestine Media Center on Palestinian death threats to the AP, by Aaron Lerner,

[IMRA interviewed Mohamed Aghawani of the Palestinian Authority's Palestine Media Center, in English, on 13 September, 2001.]

IMRA: When is the Palestinian Authority going reassure the Associated Press that Fatah Tanzim won't murder people on the AP staff if they release the footage of Palestinians celebrating the attacks against the USA?

Aghawani: Are you sure that the Tanzim said explicitly that they would murder anyone?

IMRA: Let's put it this way, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, told the AP that the Palestinian Authority "cannot guarantee the life" of the cameraman if the footage was broadcast. If I tell you that I cannot guaranty your life if you do something then what does that mean?

Aghawani: That's right. I understand the situation. The problem is that until now, as far as I know, the President's Office and the Ministry of Information are going to deal with the problem. And as far as I know this problem is going to be solved for the benefit of the journalists. That is what I am expecting. And I am sure that there will be nothing of what you just said. We are expecting to receive information from the Minister or the President's Office.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-5480092
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-610666 subscriber 4811


September 13, 2001, CAMERA, Excerpt from 9/12/01 Report from Palestinian Media Watch, [not to be confused with the pro-Palestinian PMW]:

Within hours after the horrific terrorist attacks in the United States, there were spontaneous outbreaks of rejoicing in the streets of the Palestinian Authority... Arafat's denunciation of the attacks, which continues to be broadcast, is in direct contradiction to the atmosphere of hatred he has been promoting through his tightly controlled media. The following are but a few examples: The suicide bombers of today are the noble successors of their noble predecessors... the Lebanese suicide bombers, who taught the US Marines a tough lesson in [Lebanon]...and then, with no preconditions, they threw the last of the remaining enemy [Israeli] soldiers out of the [security] zone. These suicide bombers are the salt of the earth, the engines of history...They are the most honorable [people] among us... [Al Hayat Al Jadida - Official Palestinian Authority daily, Sept. 11, 2001


September 13, 2001. Jerusalem Post, (20:15) Terrorist attack affects Bezek privatization plan,

The proposed privatization plan for the Bezek telephone company will apparently be put under more scrutiny due to the terrorist attacks in the United States.

The government is expected to discuss at next week's cabinet meeting the ramifications of declining world financial markets caused by the disasters.

Several cabinet ministers said the privatization plan should be postponed because of uncertainty in the world economy.

However, Communications Minister Reuven Rivlin said privatization should start immediately.

According to sources in the Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is interested in selling off Bezek as soon as possible, Army Radio reported.


September 13, 2001, Jerusalem Post, (18:10) Abed Rabbo: Israel exploiting terror strikes on US,
Palestinian Minister of Culture and Information Yasser Abed Rabbo said Israel taking advantage of the recent string of terror attacks in the United States.

While the eyes of the world are focused on New York and Washington, the IDF has invaded Jenin and Jericho and killed four Palestinians, Abed Rabbo said.

"Israel is exploiting the present situation, during which the world is preoccupied with the terrorist attack that hit the United Sates, in order to launch terrorist attacks against the Palestinian people," said a statement released by the Palestine Media Center in the name of Abed Rabbo.

"The Israeli government is taking advantage of the situation in order to continue its state-terrorism campaign against our People and its leadership... The Israeli government is hiding behind the dust and tragedy in New York and Washington DC to commit these crimes against our innocent civilians and cities."


September 14, 2001, The Jerusalem Post, Foreign Press Association protests PA threats to journalists, by Jerusalem Post Staff

JERUSALEM (September 14) - The Foreign Press Association expressed deep concern yesterday over life threats made to journalists by the Palestinian Authority, after PA security personnel on Tuesday tried to prevent photo and video coverage of a rally in Nablus where hundreds of Palestinians celebrated the terror attacks in New York and Washington.

The videographer, on assignment for Associated Press Television News, was summoned to a PA security office and told that the material must not be aired. Calls in the name of the Tanzim militia, an armed group associated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, warned him he would be held responsible, and made what he interpreted as threats on his life.

Several Palestinian Authority officials spoke to AP in Jerusalem urging that the material not be broadcast. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority "cannot guarantee the life" of the cameraman if the footage was broadcast.

The cameraman then requested that the material not be aired. In light of the danger, APTN has not released the footage of the rally in Nablus.

The protest by AP Chief of Bureau Dan Perry said, "I ask the assurances of the Palestinian Authority that you will protect our journalists from threats and attempts at intimidation, and that no harm would come to our freelance cameraman from distribution of the film.

"We strongly condemn the direct threats made against local videographers by local militia members, and the attitude of Palestinian officials who made no effort to counter the threats, control the situation, or to guarantee the safety of the journalists and the freedom of the press," said the FPA.

"We hold the PA fully responsible for the safety of each and every journalist operating within their areas, especially those who were filming and covering Tuesday's events in Nablus."

Asked by telephone about the allegations of harassment, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said: "We deny that."

(AP contributed to this report.)


September 14, 2001, indymedia.org, CNN did not use images form 1991, by Márcio A. V. Carvalho,

From: "Marcio A. V. de Carvalho" <marcio.carv@uol.com.br>
To: Valerio Soares <vsoares@Email-Appliances.com.au>,
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 07:52:49 -0300
Subject: CNN

Dear all,

Last September 13, I’ve sent an email to this list in which I provided some information about the falsity of the images of Palestinian celebration for the terrorism in USA, information given to me by a teacher. I spent the last day looking for that teacher, and, unfortunately, when I found her, she DENIED having access to such images.

She said that she was sure she had seen the images back in 1991, but SHE CAN’T PROVE. She was not willing to provide further information, DENYING what she had said before to a full class of students.

I sincerely apologize for this uncertain information; unfortunately I can’t prove the information contained in my last post; IT’S ONLY A CONJECTURE, THAT THOSE IMAGES OF PALESTINIANS CELEBRATING IS FALSE. I bought the idea myself, and reproduced it for you because of the importance of it, in the case it was to be confirmed.

Whatever news I get I’ll pass to you.

Best regards

Márcio A. V. Carvalho, State University of Campinas – Brazil,


September 16, 2001, The Jerusalem Post staff and AP, Palestinian Police confiscates footage at Gaza rally, Page: 01

Sunday, -- About 1,500 Palestinians, many supporters of Hamas, marched in a Gaza Strip refugee camp Friday, burning Israeli flags and carrying a large poster of Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi millionaire who US Secretary of State Colin Powell has named a key suspect in last week's terror attacks in the United States.

After the rally, plainclothes Palestinian policemen questioned several journalists, including members of foreign news agencies, and confiscated videotape, film, and other camera equipment. An Associated Press Television News video was among the materials taken, and an AP photographer was warned by officials not to publish pictures of the bin Laden poster.

AP protested and demanded the return of the video and other material.

The journalists were told police would review the material before deciding whether or not to release it.

Palestinian Authority officials refused to comment on the record and did not respond immediately to AP's protest.

The Palestinian Police said in a statement that the rally in the Nusseirat refugee camp took place without a permit.

"The Palestinian Police confiscated media material which documented illegal acts," the statement said.

Earlier last week, Palestinian Police stopped camera teams and photographers from covering a rally in Nablus in which several thousand Palestinians celebrated the attacks in the US. Palestinian officials said the demonstration did not represent widespread Palestinian opinion.

According to one source, the Reuters correspondent in Nablus not only agreed to the PA demand not to document the rally, but attempted to press his AP counterpart to follow suit. He was unable to reach him in time. The AP cameraman later received death threats.


September 17, 2001, Haaretz, Arab MKs refuse to condemn Palestinian joy over U.S. attacks, by Gideon Alon,

All Knesset factions except the Arab parties yesterday denounced manifestations of Palestinian joy following last week's deadly terror attacks in the United States, in a summary statement adopted at a special session to express solidarity with the American people in the wake of the attacks.

Those Palestinians who support terror, the resolution said, "could not restrain themselves. While across the sea, people were counting the bodies of innocent civilians, they [Palestinian supporters of terror] chose to dance on the blood of the dead."

The resolution was supported by all Knesset factions except the Arab parties.

The Arab factions also refused to sign the Knesset's letter of sympathy to the American people, for the same reason: This letter, which the heads of the other Knesset factions signed and delivered to U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtzer yesterday, also included a denunciation of those Palestinians who celebrated the attacks.

The summary statement said that the Knesset shares the deep sorrow of the American people for the loss of so many citizens in an inhumane terror attack. It added that the Knesset views terror as the greatest strategic threat to worldwide peace, and praised U.S. President George Bush's decision to embark on a determined struggle against terrorism.

MK Ahmed Tibi (Arab Movement for Renewal) said that he also denounces the manifestations of joy in the Arab street. "I feel shame and anger toward those who expressed joy at this human tragedy," he said.

However, he added, "We are talking about a handful of rash, stupid and ugly people, and the attempt to stigmatize the entire Arab and Islamic nation with their exceptional acts is cheap, harmful and perverted."

Kurtzer, upon accepting the Knesset's letter, expressed his hope that the U.S. would succeed in forging a broad coalition against terror, and that even those who until now "had made the wrong decisions" would now "make the right choice" and participate in the coalition.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the special session that those who sent the murderous terrorists against America last week "were trying to undermine the [world's] largest democracy, which, more than any other country in the history of the world, has been the foundation and the basis for global
security and peace."

"The massacre of innocent civilians was meant to cause a demoralization and loss of security in American society," he said.

But such terror, he continued, is nothing new to Israel, which "has been fighting Arab, Palestinian, Islamic and fundamentalist terror for over 120 years. Thousands of Jews have been killed in terror attacks; Arab terror has left thousands of widows and tens of thousands of orphans in its wake."

Terrorism, he added, is abetted by the incessant incitement in the official Palestinian media and the mosques, which encourages people to commit terror attacks.

Opposition leader Yossi Sarid told the session it would be a mistake to think that the worldwide shock over last week's attacks in the U.S. will enable Israel to turn Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat into Osama bin Laden. It is no accident, he said, that it is the Americans who are now urging Israel and the PA to resume negotiations.


September 17, 2001, The Jerusalem Post, PA unapologetic on confiscating rally footage, by Lamia Lahoud,

JERUSALEM (September 17) - Palestinian Authority actions to confiscate film footage of Palestinians celebrating the terror attacks on the US were logical to prevent the media from painting the wrong picture of Palestinian sentiment, Bassam Abu Sharif, an adviser to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, said yesterday.

"This was a normal preventive act... we don't want to give more to the Zionist propaganda which portrays all Palestinians as terrorists," he said.

"The idea is that these people were not allowed to film, because a small group of people on film would represent the Palestinian people as a whole."

He said only a few kids held up pictures of bin Laden, and the police arrested journalists and confiscated the film of those who defied orders not to film an illegal demonstration.

Abu Sharif charged that Israel has violated press freedom far more than the PA and accused Israel of taking advantage of it for its own propaganda.

"How many were injured and killed by the IDF? How many times have cameras been broken... there are soldiers on trial for severely beating an Egyptian camera crew," he said.

Journalists and cameramen have complained that they have been threatened by Fatah activists for planning to show footage of celebrations, and there have been reports that Palestinian policemen detained cameramen who filmed a Hamas demonstration in Gaza on Saturday at which Palestinians carried pictures of Osama bin Laden.

PA officials countercharged that pro-Israeli media are trying to portray the reaction of a handful of people who were celebrating as the Palestinian attitude.

Commenting on the complaints by the Foreign Press Association, one Palestinian source responded: "Let them not send any spies next time."
_________________________________________________________________________________

September 17, 2001, The Daily Star [Lebanon] Hizbullah regrets lives lost in US,

In its first comment on last week’s suicide attacks in New York and Washington, Hizbullah on Sunday described the assaults as “tragic events” but warned the United States not to resort to more “unjust policies",
“After many Muslim scholars stated their position toward the bloody attacks which recently occurred in New York and Washington ... we call for caution and not falling prey to a state of fear and panic that was intended to be spread throughout the world to give the US administration free rein to practice all types of aggression and terrorism under the pretext of fighting aggressions and terrorism,” a statement said.

“Now the big question is whether what the American administration is planning really has to do with retaliating against the perpetrators of the latest attacks, or whether it wants to exploit those tragic events to exercise more hegemony over the world and practice more unjust policies which have led to this level of hate against the US by many peoples and governments in the world. 

“We are sorry for any innocent people who are killed anywhere in the world. The Lebanese, who have suffered repeated Zionist massacres in Qana and elsewhere, massacres that the US administration refused to condemn at the UN Security Council, are familiar with the pain and suffering of those who lost their loved ones in bitter events.”
_________________________________________________________________________________

September 18, 2001, The Daily Star [Lebanon] Aridi: media must improve its coverage,

Information Minister Ghazi Aridi called on the country's media Monday to improve their coverage in order to keep up with recent international developments.

Speaking after a meeting with audio-visual media executives, the minister said the session was devoted to "devising a new mechanism for media coverage" in the aftermath of last week's terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Aridi added that Beirut had sufficiently condemned the attacks. "This wasn't a humanitarian gesture. We condemned the attacks because we believe that we can't face up to American policies, which are strongly biased in favor of Israel, through attacks on innocent people."

Aridi also urged his Arab counterparts to streamline a joint approach by Arab countries to the events in the US.

Asked to comment about Arab media’s increasing focusing on the events in the US at the expense of covering the intifada, Aridi replied that "only some Arab media have been doing that. This is wrong."

Commenting on the inclusion of Ziad Jarrah, a Lebanese, in the list of suspects involved in the attacks, Aridi said "this was an overt attempt, on the part of both the US and Israel, to involve Lebanon in the attacks somehow … We Lebanese are opposed to such a way of settling scores with the Americans. There's hardly a country that hasn't condemned the attacks."

Aridi, who had inquired about British journalist Robert Fisk’s claim that the BBC had banned the use of the word "assassination" when reporting on the murders of intifada activists, received a reply from Malcolm Downing, the head of the BBC's Arabic program.

"Downing had never spoken to Fisk and was never the object of any pressure by the Zionist lobby or from any other source," the reply said.
_______________________________________________________________________________

September 22, 2001, Wall Street Journal, Whooping It Up, In Beirut, even Christians celebrated the atrocity, by Elisabeth Burba, Saturday, 12:01 a.m. EDT

BEIRUT--Where were you on Sept. 11, when terrorists changed the world? I was at the National Museum here, enjoying the wonders of the ancient Phoenicians with my husband. This tour of past splendor only magnified the shock I received later when I heard the news and saw the reactions all around me.

Walking downtown, I realized that the offspring of this great civilization were celebrating a terrorist outrage. And I am not talking about destitute people. Those who were cheering belonged to the elite of the Paris of Middle East: professionals wearing double-breasted suits, charming blond ladies, pretty teenagers in tailored jeans.

Trying to find our bearings, my husband and I went into an American-style cafe in the Hamra district, near Rue Verdun, rated as one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Here the cognitive dissonance was immediate, and direct. The café's sophisticated clientele was celebrating, laughing, cheering and making jokes, as waiters served hamburgers and Diet Pepsi. Nobody looked shocked, or moved. They were excited, very excited.

An hour later, at a little market near the U.S. Embassy, on the outskirts of Beirut, a thrilled shop assistant showed us, using his hands, how the plane had crashed into the twin towers. He, too, was laughing.

Once back at the house where we were staying, we started scanning the international channels. Soon came reports of Palestinians celebrating. The BBC reporter in Jerusalem said it was only a tiny minority. Astonished, we asked some moderate Arabs if that was the case. "Nonsense," said one, speaking for many. "Ninety percent of the Arab world believes that Americans got what they deserved."

An exaggeration? Rather an understatement. A couple of days later, we headed north to Tripoli, near the Syrian border. On the way, we read that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who donated blood in front of the cameras, was rejecting any suggestion that his people were rejoicing over the terrorist attack. "It was less than 10 children in Jerusalem," he said.

In the bustling souk of Tripoli we started looking for the Great Mosque, a 1294 building with a distinctive Lombard-style tower. But in that labyrinth, nobody spoke anything but Arabic, which we don't speak. Finally, in a dark shop, we found an old gentleman who knew French. His round white cap showed that he was a devout Muslim. Leaning on his stick, he managed to get on the street and with most exquisite manners gave us directions. Common decency survives all.

Once at the mosque I donned a black chador, but our Lonely Planet guide attracted the attention of a hard-looking bearded guy all the same. "Are you Americans?" he asked in a menacing tone. Our quick denial made him relax. He gave us the green light to go in. But very soon afterward we were again approached, by a fat young man. He turned out to be one of the 350,000 Palestinians who live in Lebanon, unwelcome by most of the population and subject to severe hardships. Hearing we were Italians, first he recited like a prayer names of Italian soccer players. We were relieved at first that he wanted to talk about sports, but he soon moved on to politics and the "events."

"My people have been crushed under the heel of American imperialism, which took away our land, massacred our beloved and denied our right to life. But have you seen what happened in New York City? God Almighty has drawn his sword against our enemies. God is great--Allah u Akbar," he said.

I heard these appeals to religion so often that I needed some theological help. "How can God do evil?" I later asked an Arab friend, a businessman with an international background. "According to what I learnt in my catechism, God lets evil happen. He doesn't do it," I said, and he answered:

"The Koran has the same teaching, but blood calls for blood."

What about compassion? I asked, pointing out that Jesus had turned the other cheek. Isn't Allah also always called the Merciful? "He is, but when a people has been begging for a piece of land for 52 years and it has experienced only bloodshed, what can you expect?" But the victims of the World Trade Center were civilians, I insisted. "In the new intifada, 500 Palestinians have been killed. America didn't give a damn, so why should Muslims care now about those who died in the twin towers? It's hard, but that's the way they see it."

I couldn't help it. I kept remembering how a day earlier, in Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had talked about clash of civilizations.

On Thursday night, in the Christian northern part of Beirut, we heard some loud noises. "Probably they are celebrating the attacks," someone told us when we asked. You mean the Maronite Christians are also celebrating? I asked.

"Yes, they also feel betrayed by the Americans."

On Friday, the national day of remembrance for the victims in Europe and the U.S., I was relieved to see that the Christian church in the Sahet Aukar district was packed with people holding a candlelight vigil. Less comforting was the thick barrier of soldiers and checkpoints that protected the church.

Heliopolis, in the Bekaa Valley, was the Sun City of the ancients. Nowadays it is called Baalbek. Near its lavish temples stands the stronghold of the Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Party of God. Along the clean alleys that lead to the Hezbolla's stronghold there are hand-made posters of bearded young men. "They are martyrs," explained a well-dressed, cultivated Arab man who had just gotten out of his Mercedes. "They fought until victory: the withdrawal of Israeli occupants. So they became a model for the all Arab world." Weren't they terrorists? we asked. "Terrorists? What about the Israelis who kill women and babies?"

In the seven days we spent in Lebanon, we saw one young Arab woman with teary eyes. "The stories of the victims touched me," she said, and I began to regain my trust in humanity. Then she added: "But in a way I am also glad, because for once the Americans are experiencing what we in the Middle East go through every single day." Back in Italy, I received a phone call from my friend Gilberto Bazoli, a journalist in Cremona. He told me he witnessed the same reactions among Muslims in the local mosque of that small Lombard city. "They were all on Osama bin Laden's side," he said. "One of them told me that they were not even worthy to kiss his toes."
_________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/cnn.htm

CNN used old footage to fake images of 'Palestinians dancing in the street' after the terrorist attack on the USA. FALSE


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