"Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders"

Written by the World Islamic Front
Published in Al-Quds al-Arabi, February 23, 1998

"All these crimes and sins committed by the Americans are a clear declaration of war on Allah, his messenger, and Muslims."

For hundreds of years, Arabs in the Middle East did not hold full control over their own countries and governments. Under the Ottoman Empire (1288–1918; a vast empire of southwest Asia through northeast Africa that was ruled mainly from Turkey and was heavily influenced by the Islamic religion), they had been forced to report to governors in the capital city of Constantinople. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I (1914–18; war in which Great Britain, France, the United States, and their allies defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies), Arabs hoped they would achieve political independence. Instead,...