Honoring the 9/11 hijackers
London Islamic group plans celebration
By Lisa Myers
NBC NEWS
Aug. 27 — As the two-year anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, a very unusual ceremony is being planned in London. Critics say the event will celebrate the tragedy and the hijackers who killed thousands that day.
WEDNESDAY, ON THE streets of London, there was a jarring poster, extolling the 9/11 hijackers as the “Magnificent 19.” It features a picture of each of the 19 hijackers, the smoking World Trade Center towers and Osama bin Laden. It’s all the work of a radical Islamic group known as Al-Muhajiroun.
In an interview with NBC News, the group’s spiritual leader, Sheik Omar Bakri, says the hijackers deserve to be honored.
“The word magnificent is to attract if you like really the attention of the people to those particular 19 Muslims who in our eyes we see as Muslims what really they are — they are more than magnificent,” Sheik Bakri said. “In our eyes, they are the people who sacrifice their own life and that’s the most valuable thing and they offer it. It must be for a good reason. It must be for divine reason.”
Al-Muhajiroun is hosting a conference in London next month commemorating the second anniversary of the attack, saying “many Muslims worldwide will be celebrating the comeuppance of the U.S.A.”
Bakri told NBC the actions of the hijackers were sanctioned by God: “If God did not permit that to happen, (it) would never happen.”
Al-Muhajiroun also has dedicated followers in the United States, including protestors in New York.
INVESTIGATIONS UNDERWAY
Senior U.S. officials tell NBC News the FBI is investigating the group in several U.S. cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., and Phoenix. Says one official, “Clearly, this group is a danger.”
Evan Kohlmann, who secretly monitored the group last year in London, says it espouses the same views as al Qaida. “The idea of Al-Muhajiroun is to overthrow the infidel regime by any means necessary and replace it with an Islamic one… and I stress by any means necessary,” Kohlman said.
There is no evidence that Al-Muhajiroun has ever planned a terrorist attack. It is not officially labeled a terror group. Law enforcement officials worry most that its angry rhetoric incites lone wolves to violence.
Says Bakri: “You start to bomb and kill and exploit the resources of the Muslims, you expect them to give you flower? No. ... You did bomb them, you did destroy their own homeland, you bomb Iraq, you bomb Afghanistan, you bomb Sudan — before 9/11! They said sorry, war casualties for all innocent people. So you expect them to send you ice cream and flowers? They’re going to find opportunity to retaliate back.”
One of Bakri’s students recently committed a suicide bombing in Israel, which Bakri does not condemn.
Lisa Myers is NBC News’ senior investigative correspondent.
Please, please, please, please please move this celebration to NYC!
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6
Thread: The Magnificent 19
-
08-29-2003, 01:37 PM #1MembersZone Subscriber
- Join Date
- Jul 1999
- Location
- Flanders, NJ
- Posts
- 13,537
The Magnificent 19
-
08-29-2003, 02:51 PM #2
I was thinkin that myself George, I'm sure there would be a be welcoming party here.Please, please, please, please please move this celebration to NYC!
-
08-29-2003, 04:27 PM #3
So why don't they all jump in the ocean and drown themselves and leave everyone else alone. They sacrified and no one else gets hurt.In our eyes, they are the people who sacrifice their own life and that’s the most valuable thing and they offer it.
-
08-29-2003, 05:04 PM #4
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!
This makes me mad as hell!!
I really think they should move the demonstration to NYC. Think of the great "party" they would have to welcome them to such a fine, friendly city.

_______________________
Lt.Jason Knecht
Altoona Fire Rescue
Altoona, WI
-
08-29-2003, 06:19 PM #5MembersZone Subscriber
- Join Date
- Apr 2003
- Location
- Grand Blanc Mi U.S.A.
- Posts
- 92
At a conference I attended in March we were told of a service held to mourn this same 19. There was approximately 3000 Muslims in attendence, it was held at an Islamic Mosque in California in October just one month after the attack.
Vintage Firefighter:
"The older I get the braver I was!"
-
08-31-2003, 10:43 AM #6
Too bad we did not have itel on that location and we could have had one of our Military planes drop an memorial message in the form of a cluster bomb!
09-11 .. 343 "All Gave Some..Some Gave ALL" God Bless..R.I.P.
------------------------------
IACOJ Minister of Southern Comfort
"Purple Hydrant" Recipient (3 Times)
BMI Investigator
------------------------------
The comments, opinions, and positions expressed here are mine. They are expressed respectfully, in the spirit of safety and progress. They do not reflect the opinions or positions of my employer or my department.
Thread Information
Users Browsing this Thread
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks



