Reactions to the September 11 attacks

The September 11 attacks were condemned by world leaders and other political and religious representatives and the international media, as well as numerous memorials and services all over the world. The attacks were widely condemned by world governments, including those traditionally considered hostile to the United States, such as Cuba, Iran, Syria, Libya, North Korea, and Afghanistan. Reports of Arabs in New Jersey celebrating the attacks are uncorroborated and many have been linked to unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.
Many countries introduced anti-terrorism legislation and froze the bank accounts of businesses and individuals they suspected of having connections with al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, the perpetrators of the attacks.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the Bush administration declared a war on terror, with the stated goals of bringing Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to justice and preventing the emergence of other terrorist networks. These goals were to be accomplished by means including economic and military sanctions against states perceived as harboring terrorists and increasing global surveillance and intelligence sharing. Within hours after the September 11 attacks, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld speculated on possible involvement by Saddam Hussein and ordered his aides to make plans for striking Iraq; although unfounded, the association contributed to public acceptance for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The second-biggest operation of the war on terror outside of the United States, and the largest directly connected to terrorism, was the overthrow of the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan by a US-led coalition.
In a Joint Statement by the American Muslim Alliance, American Muslim Council, Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers, Association of Muslim Social Scientists, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Medical Association of North America, Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic Society of North America, Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, Muslim American Society and Muslim Public Affairs Council, stated:
President George W. Bush, a devout Christian, quoted Psalm 23 in a nationally-televised address immediately following the attacks:
Bush also called for solidarity with Muslims and Islam following attacks on Arab-Americans and Muslims, stating "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."
Reverend Billy Graham gave a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service to the victims of the terrorist attacks, declaring the need for spiritual renewal, and imploring Americans to bond together through struggle and strengthen their faith, and not to fragment and disintegrate as a people and nation.
Christian vigils, prayer services, and memorials occurred in many states across the United States.
Two days following the attacks, on the Christian television program The 700 Club, televangelist Jerry Falwell called the event a "punishment from God" and laid the blame on "paganists", "abortionists", "feminists" and "gays and lesbians", claiming that they "helped this happen". Host Pat Robertson concurred with the statements. Both evangelists came under attack from Bush for their statements and Falwell subsequently apologized.
Five days following the attacks, Reverend Jeremiah Wright gave a sermon at the United Trinity Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, claiming that the attacks were recompense for various injustices that the United States and Americans had perpetrated, before stating that now was a time for self-examination.
According to left-wing intellectuals Michael Walzer, Leo Casey, Michael Kazin, James B. Rule, and Ann Snitow, writing in Dissent, one of the responses by the American left to the September 11 attacks was to blame American actions, including the Gulf War, sanctions against Iraq, support for Saudi Arabia, and support for Israel, for provoking the attacks. Walzer later described the left's response to 9/11 as a "radical failure."
After the attacks many governments and organizations in the western world and several pro-U.S. allies expressed shock and sympathy, and were supportive of burgeoning efforts to combat terrorism. Among them are:
Almost all Muslim political and religious leaders condemned the attacks. Leaders vehemently denouncing the attacks included those of Egypt (Hosni Mubarak), the Palestinian Authority (Yasser Arafat), Libya (Muammar Gaddafi), Syria (Bashar al-Assad), Iran (Mohamed Khatami) and Pakistan (Pervez Musharraf). The sole exception was Iraq, which issued a statement blaming American "crimes against humanity" for the attacks.
In 2008, John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed published the findings of a six-year effort to poll and interview tens of thousands of Muslims in more than 35 countries with Muslim majorities or substantial minorities about reactions to the September 11 attacks: 23.1 percent of respondents said the attacks were in some way justified, and 7 percent viewed them as "completely justified." According to Pew Research, the majority of Muslims do not believe the official 9/11 story.
A group of Palestinians were filmed at Damascus Gate celebrating after they had heard local news reports of attacks on the World Trade Center and the deaths of thousands of Americans. Fox News reported that in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, revelers fired weapons in the air, with similar celebratory gunfire also heard at the Rashidiyeh camp near the southern city of Tyre. Yasser Arafat and nearly all the leaders of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) condemned the attacks. They censored and attempted to discredit broadcasts and other Palestinian news reports justifying the attacks in America, with many newspapers, magazines, websites and wire services running photographs of Palestinian public celebrations. The PNA claimed such celebrations were not representative of the sentiments of the Palestinians, and the Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the PNA would not allow "a few kids" to "smear the real face of the Palestinians". In an attempt to quell further reporting, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority could not "guarantee the life" of an Associated Press (AP) cameraman if footage he filmed of post-9/11 celebrations in Nablus was broadcast. Rahman's statement prompted a formal protest from the AP bureau chief, Dan Perry.
Arafat said of the attacks: "It's unbelievable. We completely condemn this very dangerous attack, and I convey my condolences to the American people, to the American president and to the American administration, not only in my name but on behalf of the Palestinians." He gave blood for victims of the attack in a Gaza hospital.
James Bennet reported in The New York Times that while "most" towns in the West Bank were quiet, some drivers in East Jerusalem were honking horns in celebration; he also wrote that he saw one man passing out celebratory candy. Big crowds of Palestinians celebrated in Nablus, chanting Beloved bin Laden, strike Tel Aviv! while Palestinian Authority personnel prevented photographers from taking pictures. Annette Krüger Spitta of the German public broadcaster ARD's TV magazine Panorama states that unaired footage shows the street surrounding the celebration in Jerusalem was quiet. Furthermore, she states that a man in a white T-shirt incited the children and gathered people together for the shot. The Panorama report, dated September 20, 2001, quotes Communications Professor Martin Löffelholz explaining that in the images one sees jubilant Palestinian children and several adults, but there is no indication that their pleasure is related to the attack. The woman seen cheering stated afterwards that she was offered cake if she celebrated on camera, and was frightened when she saw the pictures on television afterward.
There was also a rumour that the footage of some Palestinians celebrating the attacks was stock footage of Palestinian reactions to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. This rumour was proven false shortly afterwards, with CNN and Reuters issuing a statement to that effect. A poll of Palestinians conducted by the Fafo Foundation in 2005 found that 65% of respondents supported "Al Qaeda bombings in the USA and Europe".
Polls taken several years later by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya and Gallup suggested some support for the September 11 attacks within the Islamic world, with 38% believing the attacks to be not justified, while 36% believing them to be justified when Saudis were polled in 2011. Another 2008 study, produced by Gallup, found that 7% of the sample of Muslims polled believed the 9/11 attacks to be "completely" justified.