Since Osama bin Laden is here making extensive use of rhetoric based upon Islamic history, I thought I'd better add a few explanatory notes, to aid your comprehension of his points:


1) "...we shall never accept that the tragedy of Andalucia would be repeated in Palestine. We cannot accept that Palestine will become Jewish...."

The "tragedy of Andalucia" is a reference to the Spanish Reconquista, the reconquest by Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim principalities which ruled the peninsula - the Reconquista was completed in 1492.

The use of the term Andalus (or Andalucia) plays upon the associations that many educated Arabs have with the Islamic culture of the Iberian Peninsula in that age - namely, that it was a "Golden Age" of Islamic science and culture. Thus, to many muslims, the fall of Andalus was akin to the Fall of Rome to the barbarians.

Notice, also, that bin Laden plays upon the perception (common in the Islamic world) that American actions in the Middle East are dictated by the "Jewish Lobby" in the U.S.A. - a supposed conspiracy to support Israel in conquest of the Palestine. The truth or fallacy of this argument is immaterial to its emotional impact.

2) "And with regard to you, Muslims, this is the day of question. This is a new (inaudible) against you, all against the Muslims and Medina. So be like the followers of the prophet, peace be upon him, and all countrymen, lovers of God and the prophet within, and a new battle, great battle, similar to the great battles of Islam, like the conqueror of Jerusalem. So, hurry up to the dignity of life and the eternity of death."

This is a direct reference to one of the early deciding incidents in the history of Islam, the battles between the Quraish of Mekkah/Mecca and the muslims of Madinah/Medina. Bin Laden is drawing a parallel, calling this a battle between believers and non-believers.

The phrase "the conqueror of Jerusalem" may be a reference either to the crusaders (in which case, bin Laden is likening the West to the crusaders) or to Saladin, who retook Jerusalem from the crusaders (in which case, it is pretty clear that he sees himself as a modern-day Saladin.... a trait he shares with Saddam Hussein).

3) "Thanks to God, he who God guides will never lose. And I believe that there's only one God. And I declare I believe there's no prophet but Mohammed."

The Muslim credo, repeated to ensure that the point is not missed. No different in rhetorical character, really, than the repeated invocations of the name of God in President Bush's televised addresses.

4) "People -- event of the world -- in Japan, hundreds of thousands of people got killed. This is not a war crime. Or in Iraq, what our -- who are being killed in Iraq. This is not a crime. And those, when they were attacked in my Nairobi, and Dar Es Salaam, Afghanistan, and Sudan were attacked."

Reference to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to the American involvement in the Gulf War. Pretty standard anti-American rhetoric.


More might be said on the subject of Osama bin Laden's rhetoric - but I think I'll leave that to others.