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www.GiveMeLiberty.org
PETITION FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES REGARDING THE UNITED STATES’ UNCONSTITUTIONAL FINANCIAL AID TO ISRAEL AND OCCUPATION OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
WHEREAS, if Government turns against the People, ministering for evil and injustice, rather than for good, it is no longer of the Creator, and loses any Right to the People’s continued allegiance and obedience, and WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness -- that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”, and WHEREAS, following the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia by the Continental Congress, We the People of America abolished an abusive, tyrannical 150 year-old Government and instituted a new Government based on Principles considered essential to secure Life, Liberty and Happiness, and WHEREAS, We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, established a Constitution for the United States of America, with organized Powers, enumerated and strictly limited, such enumeration and limitation considered essential to secure the Safety and Happiness of the People, and WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America enumerates and strictly limits the Powers of the Congress of the United States, and WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America does NOT provide Congress with the Power to lay and collect Taxes from the People for the purpose of aiding any foreign Government, and WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America does NOT provide Congress with the Power to lay and collect taxes from the People for the purpose of aiding a foreign Government’s invasion, occupation, and oppression of the People of another State, and WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America does NOT provide Congress with the Power to lay and collect taxes from the People for the purpose of depriving the Peoples of foreign States the very Rights of Nature enjoyed by every human being and protected here by our Constitution, and WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America does provide Congress with the Power to lay and collect taxes from the People to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States, and WHEREAS, professors John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Stephen Walt (Harvard University) have published a paper titled, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, and WHEREAS, Jimmy Carter (former President of the United States of America) has published a book titled, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, and WHEREAS, evidence presented by Mearsheimer, Walt and Carter shows that the United States has abandoned its own national interest and security to advance the interests of the modern State of Israel, that neither strategic nor moral arguments can justify the United States’ unconditional support for Israel, that the United States has become the de facto enabler of Israel’s unlawful expansion and military occupation of the Palestinian Territories, and that United States policy in the Middle East (including giving Israel well over $140 billion in U.S. income tax revenues) has been driven by blind obedience to the “Israel Lobby,” and that the Israel Lobby attacks any person or organization that criticizes or is perceived to be a threat to Israel’s self-interests, and WHEREAS, evidence presented by Mearsheimer, Walt and Carter demonstrates that the Israel Lobby behaves as if it can do no wrong and is untouchable; in their paper, Mearsheimer and Walt address the Lobby’s extraordinary efforts to improperly manipulate and direct U.S. policy toward support of Israel; they address the Lobby’s extraordinary influence in the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Executive, its extraordinary manipulation of America’s media and policy research and advocacy groups and its growing efforts on American campuses to perpetuate myths about Israel and prevent criticism of Israel, and WHEREAS, the nation of Israel has no
Constitution or Bill of Rights that limits the power of government and
guarantees the individual Rights of its People. Israel’s government is
not subject to constitutional limits on its power, nor does it recognize,
guarantee or protect the unalienable, Natural Rights of the human beings
living under its military authority and control, including those
Palestinians residing in the Occupied Territories, and WHEREAS, in America, unlike Israel, the government of the United States rests upon a firm foundation of Constitutional Law designed to protect and secure the individual rights and freedoms of every American; the lawful authority exercised by our government is limited to that which is delegated and derived from the consent of the People; in America, the rights and freedoms come not from our servant government, but from God; and WHEREAS, in America,
unlike the State of Israel, America has a form of government and system of
equal justice that strictly prohibits the discrimination, maltreatment and
oppression of any person or group of people based on their ethnic origin,
religion or race, and
WHEREAS, evidence presented by Mearsheimer, Walt and Carter show the tax
revenues collected from the People of the United States and sent to Israel
are being used by Israel as follows:
WHEREAS, every year billions of dollars are confiscated from taxpayers by the United States Government and sent to Israel in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution; this theft of the labor of American citizens is made even more egregious by the fact that the bulk of our foreign aid to Israel is used to expand and enforce its unlawful and immoral occupation of the Palestinian Territories, and its subjugation and long-standing oppression of the Palestinian People, and WHEREAS, evidence presented by Carter demonstrates that all this Israeli directed abuse is aimed at forcing the Palestinians to abandon their homes and leave their ancestral lands, and WHEREAS, evidence presented by Carter demonstrates that tax revenues collected from the People of the United States are now being used by Israel to build a wall to imprison Palestinians who have not already fled the nation, allowing them to depart for distant countries but never allowing them to re-enter Israel, and WHEREAS, Palestinian Muslims are being systemically oppressed and their society is being deliberately destroyed by Israel, and WHEREAS, Palestinians and empathetic Muslims in surrounding countries are now directing their anger and hostilities against America because our financial aid and military support of Israel is paying for and enabling the virtual destruction of the Palestinian society, and WHEREAS, in 1994, when asked how to liberate Palestine, bin Baz, the foremost juridical authority in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia said it was impossible to reach a solution for the Middle East unless the problem was acknowledged as an Islamic issue, and unless Muslims stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity waging an Islamic jihad against the Jews, the Palestinians would not be saved, and
WHEREAS, on December 24, 1994, Osama bin Laden wrote to bin Baz,
saying: “The legal duty regarding Palestine and our brothers there—these poor men, women, and children who have nowhere to go—is to wage jihad ….”, and WHEREAS, the doctrine of jihad is traditionally split into two categories: “offensive” and “defensive”; an offensive jihad, to conquer new lands for Islam and convert new peoples to the faith, is a collective responsibility of all Muslims but it must always be called by a Caliph, the recognized leader of the world Islamic community; bin Laden always describes his jihad as “defensive”, something for which no formal declaration of war is required, and WHERAS, in Michael Scheuer’s words (Scheuer, Imperial Hubris, pp. 7-8; also ibid., pp. 17-18, 131-8), a defensive jihad is “an Islamic military reaction triggered by an attack by non-Muslims on Islamic faith, on Muslims, on Muslim territory, or on all three. In this scenario, it is doctrinally incumbent on each Muslim to contribute to the fight against the attacker to the best of his ability. In such a jihad, there is no Qur’anic requirement for a central Muslim leader or leadership to authorize warlike actions. Once Islam is attacked, each Muslim knows his personal duty is to fight. He needs no one else’s authority. Doctrine and historical practice therefore void any claim that bin Laden cannot lead a jihad because he was not educated as an Islamic scholar and has no religious credentials … Bin Laden’s genius lies not in his call for a defensive jihad, but in constructing and articulating a consistent, convincing case that an attack on Islam is under way and is being led and directed by America.” and WHEREAS, on August 23, 1996, in a statement dubbed the “Ladenese Epistle” and addressed to Muslims across the world, bin Laden said:
“And today…we work to do away with the injustice that has befallen our umma at the hands of the Judeo-Crusader alliance, especially after its occupation of Jerusalem….”
“Men of the radiant future of our umma of Muhammad, raise the banner of jihad [the defensive war] up high against the Judeo-American alliance that has occupied the holy places of Islam.”
“I say to our Muslim brothers across the world: your brothers in Saudi Arabia and Palestine are calling for your help and asking you to share with them in the jihad [the defensive war] against the enemies of God, your enemies the Israelis and Americans.” and
WHEREAS, in November 1996, an interview with Osama bin Laden was published in Nida’ul Islam, in which bin Laden said: “We are grateful to God Most Exalted in that He has facilitated jihad [the defensive war] in His cause for us, against the Israeli-American attacks on the Holy Sanctuaries of Islam.”
“Our encouragement and call to Muslims to enter jihad [the defensive war] against the Americans and the Israeli occupiers are actions which we undertake as religious obligations.”
WHEREAS, in March 1997, in an interview with Osama bin Laden published by CNN’s Peter Arnett, bin Laden said: “We have declared jihad [the defensive war] against the US government, because the US government is unjust, criminal, and tyrannical. It has committed acts that are extremely unjust, hideous, and criminal, whether directly or through its support of the Israeli occupation of [Palestine]. And we believe the US is directly responsible for those who were killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. The mention of the US reminds us before everything else of those innocent children who were dismembered, their heads and arms cut off in the recent explosion that took place in Qana [in Lebanon]. This US government abandoned even humanitarian feelings by these hideous crimes. It transgressed all bounds and behaved in a way not witnessed before by any power or any imperialist power in the world. … Due to its subordination to the Jews, the arrogance and haughtiness of the US regime has reached such an extent that it occupied the gibla [the direction of the prayers] of the Muslims…For this and other acts of aggression and injustice, we have declared jihad [the defensive war] against the US…the US is responsible for any reaction, because it extended its war against troops to civilians…As for what you asked regarding the American people, they are not exonerated from responsibility, because they chose this government and voted for it despite their knowledge of its crimes in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, and in other places, and its support of client regimes who filled their prisons with our best children and scholars.”
“Today, the nation is interacting well by uniting its efforts through jihad [the defensive war] against the US, which has, in collaboration with the Israeli government, led the ferocious campaign against the Islamic world in occupying the holy sites of the Muslims.”
“The US today, as a result of this arrogance, has set a double standard, calling whoever goes against its injustice a terrorist. It wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, install collaborators to rule us with man-made laws, and wants us to agree on all these issues. If we refuse to do so, it will say we are terrorists. With a fleeting glance at US behavior, we find that it judges the behavior of the poor Palestinian children whose country was occupied: if they throw stones against the Israeli occupation it says they are terrorists, whereas when the Israeli pilots bombed the United Nations building in Qana, Lebanon, while it was full of women and children, the US stopped any plan to condemn Israel…Wherever we look, we see the US as the leader of terrorism and crime in the world…The US does not consider it terrorism when hundreds of thousands of our sons and brothers in Iraq died for lack of food and medicine. So there is no basis for what the US says….”
“If the American government is serious about avoiding the explosions in the US, then let it stop provoking the feelings of 1.25 billion Muslims. Those hundred of thousands who have been killed or displaced in Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon, do have brothers and relatives [who] will make Ramzi Yousef a symbol and a teacher. The US will drive them to transfer the battle into the United States. Everything is made possible to protect the blood of the American citizen while the bloodshed of Muslims is permitted everywhere. With this kind of behavior, the US government is hurting itself, hurting Muslims and hurting the American people.”
“If there is a message that I may send
through you, then it is a message I address to the mothers of the American
troops who came here with their military uniforms walking proudly up and
down our land while the scholars of our country are thrown in prisons. I
say that this represents a blatant provocation to 1.25 billion Muslims. To
those mothers I say that if they are concerned for their sons, then let
them object to the American government’s policy and to the American
president. Do not let them be cheated by his standing before the bodies of
the killed soldiers describing the freedom fighters in Saudi Arabia as
terrorists. It is he who is a terrorist who pushed their sons into this
for the sake of the Israeli interest…They came in support of the Israeli
forces in occupied Palestine….” and WHEREAS, in December 1998, in an interview with Osama bin Laden published by the Qatari television network, Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said: “America accuses Iraq of using poison gas against the Kurds, against its own people. It also accused Iraq of using lethal weapons against Iran; however, what people should realize is that America was not accusing Iraq at that time, but rather was supporting it through various means and agents in the region. But from the point when Iraq became a notable regional power, and even became the biggest Arab power in the region, threatening the security of Jews and Israelis who are occupying Jerusalem, America started to dig all these issues up again and to claim that it would have to hold Iraq to account….”
“The infidels tell Muslims that bin Laden is threatening to kill civilians—yet what are they doing in Palestine? They’re not only killing innocents, but children as well! And America has taken over the media sphere, manipulating in different measures these enormous powers as it sees fit. Every American is our enemy, whether he fights directly or whether he pays taxes.”
“It is not acceptable in such a struggle as this that he [the Crusader] should attack and enter my land and holy sanctuaries, and plunder Muslims’ oil, and then when he encounters any resistance from Muslims, to label them terrorists. This is stupidity, or considering others stupid. We believe it is our legal duty to resist this occupation with all our might, and punish it in the same way as it punishes us.”
WHEREAS, on September 24, 2001, in a statement faxed to Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said:
WHEREAS, on October 7, 2001, in a statement aired on Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said: “America has been filled with terror from north to south and from east to west, praise and blessings to God. What America is tasting today is but a fraction of what we have been tasting for decades. For over eighty years our umma has endured this humiliation and contempt. Its sons have been killed, its blood has been shed, its holy sanctuaries have been violated, all in a manner contrary to that revealed by God, without anyone listening or responding…When these men retaliated on behalf of their poor, oppressed sons, their brothers and sisters in Palestine and in many of our other lands of Islam, the whole world cried out. The infidels [the rest of the world] cried out [in protest at 9-11], and the [Muslim] hypocrites followed them.”
“I have only a few words for America and its people: I swear by God Almighty Who raised the heavens without effort that neither America nor anyone who lives there will enjoy safety until safety becomes a reality for us living in Palestine and before all the infidel armies leave the land of Mohammad.” and WHEREAS, on October 10, 2001, the White House announced that it had asked the five major US television networks, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC, to censor al-Qaeda footage, “which meant in practical terms material from al-Jazeera, since it was the only network in a position to deliver it.” In a 30-minute conference call, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice “urged all the American network chiefs not to screen videos from bin Laden.” (Miles, Al-Jazeera, p. 116). All five networks agreed they would vet all their clips from the war in Afghanistan, and would not use al-Jazeera’s footage live. On October 11, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer “asked American newspaper editors not to publish full transcripts of bin Laden’s or al-Qaeda’s statements.” Britain also tried to exert pressure on the press, Tony Blair summoning the BBC, ITN, and Sky News to Downing Street, where the media adviser, Alistar Campell, “gave them a stern lesson on what would constitute acceptable reporting…Any more bin Laden footage that materialized, the three networks were told, would have to be censored, for there was a ‘real danger that they could be sending out messages to terrorists members in their network’.” Hugh Miles notes that “These calls for censorship demonstrated a dim appreciation of al-Qaeda’s proven ability to manipulate modern communications.” and WHEREAS, on October 21, 2001, in an interview with Taysir Alluni of Al-Jazeera, aired on January 31, 2002, bin Laden said: “As far as concerns [America’s] description of these attacks [on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon] as terrorist acts, that description is wrong. These young men, for whom God has created a path, have shifted the battle to the heart of the United States, and they have destroyed its most outstanding landmarks, its economic and military landmarks, by the grace of God. And they have done this because of our words – and we have previously incited and roused them to action – in self-defense, defense of our brothers in Palestine, and in order to free our holy sanctuaries. And if inciting for these reasons is terrorism, and if killing those that kill our sons is terrorism, then let history witness that we are terrorists.”
“We have incited and urged the killing of
Americans and Jews. That is true.” “But I mention that there are other events that took place, bigger, greater, and more dangerous than the collapse of the towers. It is that this Western civilization, which is backed by America, has lost its value and appeal. The immense materialistic towers, which preach Freedom, Human Rights, and Equality, were destroyed. These values were revealed as a total mockery, as was made clear when the US government interfered and banned the media outlets from airing our words (which don’t exceed a few minutes), because they felt that the truth started to appear to the American people, and that we aren’t really terrorists in the way they want to define them, but rather because we are being violated in Palestine, in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Sudan, in Somalia, in Kashmir, in the Philippines, and throughout the world, and that this is a reaction from the young men of our umma against the violations of the British Government.[1] So they declared what they declared, and they ordered what they ordered, and they forgot everything they mentioned about free speech, and unbiased opinion and all those matters. So I say that freedom and human rights in America have been sent to the guillotine with no prospect of return, unless those values are quickly reinstated. The government will take the American people and the West in general into a choking life, into an unsupportable hell, because of the fact that it has very strong ties with and are under the payroll of, the Zionist lobby, which serves the needs of Israel, which kills our sons and our children without right so that it can keep on ruling with total control.”
“It is very strange for Americans and other educated people to talk about the killing of innocent civilians. I mean, who said that our children and civilians are not innocents, and that the shedding of their blood is permissible? Whenever we kill their civilians, the whole world yells at us from east to west, and America starts putting pressure on its allies and puppets. Who said that our blood is not blood and their blood is blood? What about the people who have been killed in our lands for decades? More than 1,000,000 children died in Iraq [from US and UN imposed sanctions], and they are still dying, so why do we not hear people that cry or protest, or anyone who reassures, or anyone who sends condolences? And it is said in truth by our Prophet in the authentic hadith: “A women has entered hell because of a cat she tied up without giving it food or without letting it eat from the blessings of the earth.” And that is just because of a cat, so what about the millions of Muslims that are getting killed? Where are the [comments of the] educated? Where are the writers? Where are the scholars? Where are the free? Where are the ones who have one atom of faith in their hearts? How is it that these people are moved when civilians die in America, and not when we are being killed everyday? Everyday in Palestine, children are killed. There is a great misconception in people today, which needs to be corrected by every means possible, and the numbers [who have died] need to be recalculated. There is a strong instinct in humans to lean towards the powerful without knowing it, so when they talk about us, they know we will not answer them, and if we stand in the ranks of the government and the Americans, they will think that they feel something that we don’t… A long time ago, one of the kings that ruled Arabs killed an Arab, and people became inured to the idea that kings kill humans. So the brother of the deceased went to the king and killed him. After this victory, the people were astonished and said: ‘You are able to kill a king just because of your brother?’ So who permitted the rule of that king?’ These are both equal souls, and the blood of Muslims is equal, but in those times some people’s blood was more equal than others, so that gentle man replied: ‘My brother is my king.’ And today, all our brothers in Palestine are our kings, so we kill the kings of disbelief and the kings of the Crusaders, and the civilians among the disbelievers, in response to the amount of our sons they kill: this is correct in both religion and logic.”
“And the United States has involved itself and its people again and again for more than 53 years, and recognized and supported Israel, and dispatched a general air supply line in 1393 AH [1973] during the days of Nixon, from America to Tel Aviv, with weapons, aid, and men, which affected the outcome of the battle, so how could we not fight it [America]? It is incumbent upon every Muslim to fight it. So if it wants to survive, we have offered some simple advice, but America has terrorized and it has erased its own values.” “The Americans have made laughable claims. They said that there are hidden messages intended for terrorists in bin Laden’s statements. It is as if we are living in the time of carrier-pigeons, without the existence of telephones, without travelers, without the Internet, without regular mail, without faxes, without email. This is just farcical; words which belittle people’s intellects. We swore that America would never dream of safety, until safety becomes a reality for us living in Palestine. That has exposed the American government, and that it exists as an agent of Israel, and puts Israel’s needs before the needs of its own people. So the situation is straightforward: America won’t be able to leave this ordeal unless it pulls out of the Arabian peninsula, and it ceases its meddling in Palestine, and throughout the Islamic world. If we give this equation to any child in any American school, he would easily solve it in a second. But, according to Bush’s actions, the equation won’t be solved unless our swords fall on their heads, with the permission of God.”
“So any nation that joins the Jewish
trenches has only itself to blame.” and WHEREAS, on November 3, 2001, in a letter to Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said: “So the issue is one of faith and doctrine, not of a ‘war on terror,” as Bush and Blair depict it… After American politicians had spoken, and American newspapers and television channels overflowed with evident Crusader hatred in this campaign against Islam and its people, Bush left no room for the doubts or media opinion. He stated clearly that this is a Crusader war. He said this in front of the whole world so as to emphasize this fact. Those who maintain that this is war is against terrorism, what is this terrorism that they talk about at a time when people of the umma have been slaughtered for decades, in response to which we do not hear a single voice or action of resistance?”
“…and as for events in Palestine and Iraq,
words cannot do them justice. More than a million children have been
killed in Iraq, and the killing continues. As for what is happening these
days in Palestine, may God help us. No one, not even animals, would put up
with what is going on there. One of my confidants told me that he saw a
butcher slaughtering a camel in front of another camel. When it saw the
blood coming out of its brother it got so agitated and enraged that it bit
the man’s hand and tore it right off…How can the poor mothers in Palestine
bear the murder of their children at the hands of the oppressive Jewish
policemen, with American support, American aeroplanes and tanks? Those who
distinguish between America and Israel are true enemies of the umma.”
and WHEREAS, on November 2, 2001, in an interview published in a Pakistani newspaper and in a London newspaper on November 12, 2001, bin Laden said:
“We ourselves are the victims of murder and massacres. We are only defending ourselves against the United States. This is a defensive jihad to protect our land and our people. That’s why I have said that if we don’t have security, neither will the Americans. It’s a very simple equation that any American child could understand: live and let others live.” “The Israeli forces are occupying our land and the American forces are sitting on our territory. We no longer have any choice but jihad [the defensive war].” “So good people are everywhere, but the pro-Jewish lobby has taken the United States and the West hostage.” “…if the Americans have charges against us, we have a long list of charges against them.” and
WHEREAS, on December 26, 2001, in a statement released to Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said: “History recounts that America supported everyone who waged jihad [the defensive war] and fought against Russia, but when God blessed these Arab mujahidin with going to help those poor innocent women and children in Palestine, America became angry and turned its back, betraying all those who had fought in Afghanistan.”
“Slaughtering children was something for which the head of oppression, unbelief, and hostility, Pharoh, was famous, yet the sons of Israel have done the same thing to our sons in Palestine. The whole world has witnessed Israeli soldiers killing Muhammad al-Durreh, and many others like him.”
“The events of [September 11] are merely a response to the continuous injustice inflicted upon our sons in Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, southern Sudan, and other places, like Kashmir. The matter concerns the entire umma. People need to wake up from their sleep and try to find a solution to this catastrophe that is threatening all of humanity.”
“Those who condemn these operations [ 9-11] have viewed the event in isolation and have failed to connect it to previous events or to the reasons behind it. Their view is blinkered and lacks either a legitimate or a rational basis. They merely saw others in America and the media decrying these operations, so they did the same themselves. These people remind me of the wolf who, seeing a lamb, said to it: ‘You were the one who polluted my water last year.’ The lamb replied: ‘It wasn’t me,’ but the wolf insisted: ‘Yes it was.’ The lamb said: ‘I was only born this year.’ The wolf replied: ‘Then it was your mother who polluted my water’, and he ate the lamb. When the poor ewe saw her son being torn by the wolf’s teeth, her maternal feelings drove her to give the wolf a hard butt. The wolf cried out: ‘Look at this terrorism!’ And all the parrots repeated what he said, saying ‘Yes, we condemn the ewe’s butting of the wolf.’ What do you think about the wolf eating the ewe’s lamb?”
“These blessed, successful strikes are merely a reaction to events in our land in Palestine, in Iraq, and in other places. America has continued this policy with the coming of George Bush Jr, who began his term with violent airstrikes on Iraq to emphasize the policy of oppression and hostility, and to show that the blood of Muslims has no value.”[2]
“God gave them the chance to teach a harsh lesson to these arrogant people who think that freedom only has meaning for the white race, and that other peoples should be humiliated and subservient, not even rising up when they strike us, as they did previously in Iraq.”
“Our terrorism against America is a praiseworthy terrorism in defense against the oppressor, in order that America will stop supporting Israel, who kills our sons. Can you not understand this? It is very clear.”
“America and the
western leaders always say that Hamas and Islamic Jihad [the
defensive war] is Palestine, and other such militias, are terrorist
organizations. If self-defense is terrorism, what is legitimate? Our
defense and our fight is no different to that of our brothers in Palestine
like Hamas…So let us relieve the oppression of the poor people in
Palestine and elsewhere.” and WHEREAS, on October 6, 2002, in a statement posted on the Internet, bin Laden said: “Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: (1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us. (a) You attacked us in Palestine… (b) You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon. (c) Under your supervision, consent, and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your collaborators, attack us on a daily basis… (d) You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of your international influence and military threats. The theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world. (e) Your forces occupy our countries; you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands, and you besiege our sanctuaries, to protect the security of the Jews and to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures. (f) You have starved the Muslims of Iraq, where children die every day. It is a wonder that more than 1.5 million Iraqi children have died as a result of your sanctions, and that you have not shown concern. Yet when 3,000 of your people died, the entire world rises up and has not yet sat down. (g) You have supported the Jews in their idea that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and have agreed to move your embassy there. With your help and under your protection, the Israelis are planning to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque. Under the protection of your weapons, Sharon entered the al-Aqsa mosque, to pollute it as a preparation to capture and destroy it.
“Do not expect anything from us but jihad [the defensive war], resistance, and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?”
“…the American people are the ones who choose their government through their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus, the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment, and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their government, and even to change it if they want.”
“The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue attacking us and invade our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditures of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.”
“You are a nation who, rather than ruling by the shari of God in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for God the Almighty to fashion His creation, grant men power over all creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?”
“You are a nation that permits usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your economy on investments and usury. As a result of this, in all their different forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your expense…”
“Let us not forget one of your major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy in manners and principles. All manners, principles, and values have two scales: one for you and one for everybody else.”
“The freedom and democracy that you call for yourselves and for the white race only; as for the rest of the world, you impose upon it your monstrous, destructive policies and governments, which you call ‘friends of America’. Yet, you prevent them from establishing democracies.”
“You are the last ones to respect the resolutions and policies of International Law, yet you claim to want to selectively punish anyone else who does the same. Israel has for more than 50 years been pushing UN resolutions and rules to the wall with the full support of America.”
“We also advise you to stop supporting Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians against the Chechens, and also to cease supporting the Manila Government against the Muslims in the southern Philippines.”
“…we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.”
“We also call you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, rather than the policies of subjugation, theft, and occupation, and not to continue your policy of supporting Jews because this will result in more disasters for you.”
WHEREAS, on November 12, 2002, in an audiotape delivered to Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said: “Our people have suffered murder and torture in Palestine for nearly a century. But as soon as we defend them the world gets agitated and joins forces against the Muslims under the false and unjust pretext of fighting terrorism.”
“How long will fear,
killing, destruction, displacement, orphaning, and widowing be our sole
destiny, while security, stability, and happiness is yours? This is
injustice. The time has come to settle accounts. Just as you kill, se you
shall be killed; just as you bomb, so you shall be bombed. And there will
be more to come.” and WHEREAS, on February 14, 2003, in a statement published on websites and in a Saudi newspaper, bin Laden said: “One of the most important objectives of this new Crusader campaign, after dividing up the region, is to prepare it for the establishment of what is called the state of Greater Israel, which would incorporate large parts of Iraq and Egypt within its borders, as well as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, the whole of Palestine, and a large part of Saudi Arabia.”
“As the twin towers of New York collapsed, something even greater and more enormous collapsed with them: the myth of the great America and the myth of democracy. It became clear to all that America’s values are the lowest, and the myth of the ‘land of the free’ was destroyed, as was the myth of American national security and the CIA, all praise and glory to God. One of the most important positive effects of our attacks on New York and Washington was to expose the reality of the struggle between the Crusaders and the Muslims, and to demonstrate the enormous hostility that the Crusaders feel towards us. The attacks revealed the American wolf in its true ugliness. The entire world woke up from its slumber, and the Muslims realized the importance of the doctrine of friendship and enmity in God. The spirit of brotherhood in faith amongst Muslims was strengthened, which can be considered a great step towards unification of the Muslims under the word of God and establishing the rightly guided Caliphate with the permission of God. It also became clear to people that America, this unjust power, can be struck down and humiliated. And for the first time, most of the American population is aware of the reality of the Palestinian issue, and that what happened to them in Manhattan was a result of the unjust policies of their government.”
“…our issues – the
most important of which is Palestine….” and WHEREAS, on January 4, 2004, in an audiotape delivered to Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said:
“The occupation of
Iraq is a link in the Zionist-Crusader chain of evil. Then comes the full
occupation of the rest of the Gulf states to set the stage for controlling
and dominating the whole world. For the big powers believe that the Gulf
and the Gulf states are the key to controlling the world, due to the
presence of the largest oil reserves there.” WHEREAS, on April 15, 2004, in a statement broadcast on Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiyya, bin Laden said: “It is well known that security is a vital necessity for every human being. We will not let you monopolize it for yourselves, just as sensible people would not let their leaders compromise their security…Since we have reacted in kind, your description of us as terrorists and of our actions as terrorism necessarily means that you and your actions must be defined likewise. Our actions are but a reaction to yours – your destruction and murder of our people, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Palestine. Look, for example, at the event that terrorized the world, the murder of the wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, God have mercy on his soul. We gave our pledge that we will take revenge on America for his death, with God’s will.’
“President Bush and
leaders like him, the big media institutions, the United Nations, which
legislates between army leaders and the mighty General Assembly – all
these are merely agents of deception and exploitation. These and others
are groups who are a mortal danger to the entire world, the most dangerous
and difficult of these being the Zionist lobby.” and WHEREAS, on October 29, 2004, in a videotape broadcast on Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said: “God knows that the plan of striking the towers had not occurred to us, but the idea came to me when things went just too far with the American-Israeli alliance’s oppression and atrocities against our people in Palestine and Lebanon.”
“The events that made a direct impression on me were during and after 1982, when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon with the help of its third fleet.[3] They started bombing, killing and wounding many, while others fled in terror. I still remember those distressing scenes: blood, torn limbs, women and children massacred. All over the place, houses were being destroyed and tower blocks were collapsing, crushing their residents, while bombs rained down mercilessly on our homes. It was like a crocodile devouring a child, who could do nothing but scream. Does a crocodile understand anything other than weapons? The whole world heard and saw what happened, but did nothing. In those critical moments, many ideas raged inside me, ideas difficult to describe, but they unleashed a powerful urge to reject injustice and a strong determination to punish the oppressors.”
“As I looked at those destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the oppressor in kind by destroying towers in America, so that it would have a taste of its own medicine and would be prevented from killing our women and children. On that day I became sure that the oppression and intentional murder of innocent women and children is a deliberate American policy. It seemed to me that “freedom” and “democracy” are actually just terror, just as resistance is labeled “terrorism” and “reaction.” Imposing lethal sanctions on millions of people, as Bush Sr. did, and carrying out the mass butchering of children, is the worst thing that humanity has ever known. So is dropping millions of pounds of bombs and explosives on millions of children in Iraq, as Bush Junior did, to remove a former collaborator, and install a new one who will help steal Iraq’s oil, as well as commit other atrocities.”[4]
“Against the background of these and similar images, the events of September 11 came as a response to these great injustices. Can you blame someone for protecting his own? Self-defense and punishing the oppressor in kind: is this shameful terrorism? Even if it is, we have no other option. This is the message that we have repeatedly tried to convey to you in words and deeds, years before September 11. You could see this, if you were so inclined, in the interview with Scott MacLeod in Time magazine in 1996, as well as the one with Peter Arnett on CNN in 1997, and with John Weiner in 1998. You could see it in the events in Nairobi, Tanzania, and Aden; you could see it in my interviews with Abdel Bari Atwan and with Robert Fisk, who is a fellow [Westerner] and a co-religionist of yours, but one whom I consider unbiased.”
“Would those in the White House, and the TV channels who answer to those who claim to stand for freedom, dare to interview him [Fisk], so that he could explain to the American people everything he has learned from us about the reasons for our struggle? For if you could avoid perpetrating these injustices, you Americans would be on the right path towards the security you enjoyed before September 11. This is what I can say about war and its reasons.” WHEREAS, on July 26, 2006 “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: Media & the Israel-Palestine Conflict”, a documentary, was posted on Google, providing a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, exposing how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported, and WHEREAS, the Islamic jihad [the defensive war] against the United States of America is the underlying cause of America’s “War on Terror”, and WHEREAS, America’s “War on Terror” is the proximate cause of the Police State policies and programs now being implemented in America, and WHEREAS, and the Police State in America is eroding the individual Rights, Freedoms, and Liberties of the American People, and WHEREAS, it is undeniable that U.S. foreign aid to Israel is the result of the de facto wholesale adoption of the self-interests of the state of Israel over the constitutionally protected self-interests of the American People, and WHEREAS, as reported by John Mearsheimer, Stephen Walt, Jimmy Carter and Osama bin Laden, United States foreign aid is being used to establish and further, by use of force, a minority Jewish religious belief system, it is being used to unlawfully imprison, impoverish and otherwise abuse large segments of the Palestinian population with its largely Muslim religious belief system, it is being used to attack other nations in the region that oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestine and destruction of the Palestinian society, and it is being used to achieve questionable political ends that have resulted in injurious “blowback” upon the American populace -- including the attacks of 9-11 and the continuing diminution of our civil liberties. In essence, the aid and assistance of the United States is being used to deprive of our fellow human beings, both here and abroad, of their unalienable Rights as endowed by their Creator, and WHEREAS, United States financial and military aid to Israel is not in America’s national interest, nor is it serving the general Welfare of all Americans; it is, therefore, repugnant to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America.
WE THE PEOPLE, hereby petition the Government of the United States for a Redress of Grievances regarding the Government’s infringement and deprivation of the Right of the People to a Government that does NOT violate Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution by laying and collecting taxes for activities that are not in America’s national interest and that do not serve the general Welfare of Americans, and
WE THE PEOPLE, hereby petition the Government of the United States for a Redress of Grievances regarding the Government’s infringement and deprivation of the Right of the People to a Government that does NOT violate Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution by laying and collecting taxes that knowingly finance despotic activities in foreign States that deprive the human beings in those States the same unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and Happiness protected here by the Constitution, and
[1] Here, bin Laden may be referring to the Sykes-Picot agreement of May 16, 1916, in which the Middle East was secretly divided up into British and French areas of control; and to the Balfour declaration of November 2, 1917, which outlined the British government’s support for Zionist plans for a Jewish “national home” in Palestine. [2] The February 26 2001 bombings included a large sortie of US and UK planes attacking sites near Baghdad; the raids were almost universally condemned. [3] On June 6, 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in Operation Peace for Galilee, under the direction of Defense Minister (now Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon. The stated aim of the invasion was to prevent Palestinian militia from firing rockets at civilian targets in Galilee (the first such attack for ten months had been provoked by an Israeli air raid on refugee camps and other PLO targets in Lebanon, killing 45 and wounding 150); its real aim was the destruction of the PLO. Israeli forces reached Beirut, where they encountered strong opposition from Palestinian militia; in the ensuing siege, nearly 20,000 people died, at least half of them civilians. Later that year, the Israeli military allowed Lebanese Christian Phalange militia to massacre Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Israeli occupied Beirut, which Israeli forces made no efforts to prevent. Between 3,000 and 3,500 people were killed, including women and children. In its investigation into the massacre, published in Spring 1983, the Israeli Kahan commission found the Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, later Prime Minister of Israel, bore “personal indirect responsibility,” recommending that he be dismissed from his post, and concluding that he should never hold public office again. When it completed its withdrawal from South Lebanon on May 22, 2000, an estimated 10,000 had been killed and another 10,000 injured. US opposition to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon was muted at best; in the Arab world it was widely believed to have endorsed the invasion. [4] On March 21 2003 the US launched 1,700 bombing sorties, 504 using cruise missiles, against Iraq. Eighteen months later, a detailed analysis in The Lancet concluded that the civilian death toll for the conflict might be as high as 100,000.
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