Time
BY MALLORY MOENCH AND SIMMONE SHAHUPDATED: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 3:33 PM EST | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 1:09 PM EST
Two decades ago, Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader behind 9/11, laid out his attempted justification for the terror attack against the U.S. that killed nearly 3,000 people in his “Letter to America.”
This week, that same letter went viral on TikTok among a new generation, many of whom are debating the Israel-Hamas war and the role played by the U.S. For some, a big part of bin Laden’s justification—American support for Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in what the U.N. deems a violation of international law—resonates with what’s going on now in the Middle East, leading them to renew calls for a Gaza ceasefire.