Cartoon that PMW claim is part of a long tradition of celebrating the September 11, 2001 Attacks.^[1]
Published by Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Palestinain Authority official daily newspaper, on September 12, 2007
Reported by PMW.

The September 11, 2001 attacks occasioned apparent spontaneous outbreaks of public celebration in a number of Arab Muslim communities. Press and television coverage of these celebrations focused on the Middle East and were met with shock and outrage in the United States. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Al-Hayat al-Jadida (or Alhayat Aljadeeda) is an official daily newspaper of the Palestinian National Authority. ... “Palestinian government” redirects here. ... Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) is an organization established in 1996 that monitors Palestinian Arabic media and schoolbooks. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...

As a later response, Muslim groups, mostly from the USA, vocally distanced themselves from such behavior and also condemned it,^[2] while some media reported that in one of the incidents the participants were incited to celebrate.

World reaction

Official reaction was almost universal in condemning the attacks, even among countries considered hostile to the U.S.^[3] The sole exception was Iraq, which said of the attacks that ""The American cowboys are reaping the fruit of their crimes against humanity."^[4] Saddam Hussein would later offer sympathy to the Americans killed in the attacks.^[5] Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq and Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council from 1979 until his overthrow by US forces in 2003. ...

The Reports

Reports and images of Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the West Bank taking to the streets in jubilation, chanting 'Allāhu Akbar' (God is (the) greatest), passing along sweets in praise of Bin Laden (The US primary suspect^[6]), honking car horns, holding up the V sign for victory and holding up Palestinian flags were broadcast around the world, and most American networks aired the images. In addition, many newspapers, magazines, Web sites and wire services ran photographs of the festivities.^{[7][8][9](VIDEO)} For other usages of the phrase Allahu Akbar, see Allahu Akbar (disambiguation). ... The name bin Laden may refer to: the bin Laden family Osama bin Laden This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The V sign is a hand gesture in which the first and second fingers are raised and parted, whilst the remaining fingers are clenched. ...

On the day of the attacks, The Times (British) and Fox News (American) reported that 3,000 celebrants were pouring into the streets of Nablus and dozens of people were celebrating in the traditional gesture of handing out sweets. The Times notes that in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem, there was a smaller gathering of about two dozen people.^[10] FOX News adds that in Ein el-Hilweh (Lebanon), where about 75,000 Palestinians live, and also in Rashidiyeh camp south of Tyre, revelers fired weapons in the air.^[11] The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ... Fox News Channels slogan is We Report, You Decide The Fox News Channel is a U.S. cable and satellite news channel. ... Map of the West Bank, with Nablus in the center north. ... Ain al-Hilweh (variously, Ayn al-Hilweh, Ein al-Hilweh, etc. ... The Triumphal Arch Tyre (Arabic , Phoenician , Hebrew Tzor, Tiberian Hebrew , Akkadian , Greek Týros) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. ...

The Times also writes that Nawal Abdel Fatah, a Palestinian woman (age 48) wearing a long black dress, was quoted 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 (age 22), expressed hopes that the next attack would be against Tel Aviv.^{[10][12](VIDEO)} Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ...

Palestinian Authority reaction

The Palestinian Authority, which had immediately condemned the September 11th attacks, moved to censor further reports of public celebrations, claiming that they were unrepresentative of the Palestinian people. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority could not "guarantee the life" of an Associated Press cameraman if footage he filmed of post-9/11 celebrations was broadcast. Rahman's statement prompted a formal protest from the AP bureau chief, Dan Perry.^[13][14][9] The West Bank The Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) is a semi-autonomous state institution nominally governing the bulk of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (which it calls the Palestinian Territories). It was established as a part of Oslo accords between the PLO and Israel. ... For other uses, see Censor. ...

A few days after the September 11th attacks, Yasser Arafat made a show of donating blood for victims of the attacks.^[15] Not to be confused with Yasir Arafat (cricketer). ...

Palestinian Media Reaction

While the celebrations and ensuing controversy were widely covered in the United States and Europe, Arab condemnations of the attacks and the celebrations went widely unreported. The Palestinian media, however, quickly condemned the celebrations as an unrepresentative example of public opinion that was being exploited to vilify the Palestinian people. The lead editorial in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, for example, wrote:

"Those ignorant few who did that [celebrate] do not represent our public opinion. In fact, such ignorant behavior might have happened in other parts of the world, but unfortunately the cameras did not reach them..." ^[16]

Authenticity

Rebroadcast footage

Palestinian children, celebrating the September 11 attacks.

There was an urban legend that the footage of some Palestinians celebrating the attacks was rebroadcast footage of Palestinian reactions to the invasion of Kuwait, a decade prior to 2001.^[17] This rumor was proven false shortly afterwards,^[18] and CNN issued a statement to that fact.^[19] Palestinian children allegedly celebrating the September 11 attacks (fair use) This work is copyrighted. ... Palestinian children allegedly celebrating the September 11 attacks (fair use) This work is copyrighted. ... An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ...

Germany's Panorama

Annette Krüger Spitta of ARD's (German public broadcasting) TV magazine Panorama claimed that while the footage was indeed correctly dated, reporters may have partly staged one of the scenes and that viewers should keep some distance from what is spread by journalists on images of conflict. The German weekly Der Spiegel repeated this news report and noted about the mistaken circulation that the footage was from 1991.^[17] ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – the Consortium of public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany), is a joint organization of Germanys regional public broadcasting agencies. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The Panorama report from September 20, 2001 has Medium Professor Martin Löffelholz explaining that in the images you see jubilant Palestinian children and several adults but it is impossible to know if they are necessarily pleased about the attack reports; and he does not assume this and ignores the way it has been reported.

Krüger Spitta notes that inspection of the untelecasted complete tape shows the street around the celebration is quiet and a man in a white T-shirt is noticeable for inciting the children and is fetching new people again and again. The woman who is remembered for her cheering (e.g. Nowel Abdel Fatah^[12]) stated afterwards that she was offered cake if she celebrates on camera, and that she was frightened when she saw the pictures on television and that she never expected it would be noticed to the USA.

Krüger Spitta expresses that it is impossible to know if these images -- which were wildly sent worldwide under the title: Palestinians celebrate in Jerusalem -- are truth or a production and that, as Professor Löffelholz says, in crises and war situations a due portion of distance should be kept from what is spread by journalists who sometime make errors.^[20]

Sources

The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ...

External links

• IMRA media digest from IMRA
• CAMERA: The BBC, the British Press, and the Attack on America from CAMERA
• Jewish Virtual Library: Palestinian Authority Threatens Cameraman from Jewish Virtual Library