Osama Bin Laden's birthday message for Israel

_0000000000071004-mezan-al-dura

Osama bin Laden added his voice to the birthday messages accompanying Israel's 60th anniversary, vowing to fight on in the name of the Palestinian cause which he said was of primary concern to all Muslims.

As President Bush left Israel's anniversary celebrations with effusive pledges of US support for the Jewish state, the al-Qaeda leader chipped in with own analysis of the intractable conflict, saying it was one of the principle reasons he had turned to jihad as a young man.

“To Western nations ... this speech is to understand the core reason of the war between our civilisation and your civilisations. I mean the Palestinian cause,” said Bin Laden in a message that lasted almost ten minutes. “The Palestinian cause is the major issue for my nation. It was an important element in fuelling me from the beginning and the 19 others with a great motive to fight for those subjected to injustice and the oppressed,” he said, referring to the terrorists who hijacked four passenger aircraft in September 2001 to attack Washington and New York.

“Sixty years ago, the Israeli state didn't exist. Instead, it was established on the land of Palestine raped by force,” Bin Laden said. “Israelis are occupying invaders whom we should fight.” He is thought to be hiding out in tribal lands on the Pakistan-Afghan border.