A new poll shows an alarming number of Gen Z have absolutely no idea of the dangers of radical Islamic terrorism. That poll shows one in five members of that generation have a favorable view of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, according to the Daily Mail poll.
Bin Laden, who founded the terrorist group al Qaeda, was killed in a Navy Seals operation on May 2, 2011. Moreover, three in ten members of Gen Z believe bin Laden’s views were a “force of good.” If anything explains the failure of our public schools and universities, this is it.
Family members of 9/11 victims were stunned by the results of the poll, calling it “horrifying” and believe it magnifies a trend that shows some in the younger generation are growing sympathetic to terrorists. One need only look at the protests against Israel after civilians in that country were slaughtered, and Israel responded to understand the future “leaders” of our country are not so bright.
That fact was displayed in a poll conducted by the Daily Mail in October, which found one in ten voters under the age of thirty held a positive view of Hamas. That poll was conducted after the horrific assault on Israeli civilians that killed 1,300 men, women, and children. Some children were beheaded, and others were put in ovens and burned to death.
Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Alexandria, Virginia, and the crew and passengers of United Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
That number does not include those first responders and others who responded to the scene in New York who have died in the years since of 9/11-related illnesses. In fact, the number of FDNY employees who have died since equals the number killed on that fateful day.
Bin Laden was not only responsible for the 9/11 attacks but was also blamed for many other terrorist attacks around the world.
The surviving family members believe schools in the United States are failing students by not teaching them the truth about the terrorist threats faced by the United States, including by radical Islamic terrorists.
The poll, conducted by J.L. Partners on behalf of the Daily Mail, asked 18 to 29-year-olds about their opinion of bin Laden. Eight percent said they had a “completely positive” view of him, while 12 percent said they had a ‘“somewhat positive” view of bin Laden.
Among black voters, about 18 percent held the same positive views.
Eight percent of the Gen Z age group said bin Laden’s “views and actions” were good, while 23 percent said his views were good but his actions were bad.
There is some hope for people who haven’t been brainwashed by the educational system, with 81 percent of American voters holding a negative view of bin Laden and eight percent holding a positive view.
Despite that, 14 percent said bin Laden had “some good in terms of either his views, actions, or both,” while 70 percent said both his views and actions were bad.
That is a far cry from immediately after the 9/11 attacks when Americans overwhelmingly condemned bin Laden and the attacks. When he was sent to Allah in 2011, a poll of 22 countries found three-quarters believed the United States was justified in taking him out.
The Daily Mail poll comes as young people in colleges and universities across the country have bought into the Hamas narrative about Israel, dismissing that country’s justification for punching back after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
On Communist China’s mouthpiece TikTok, users some users have shared bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America,” where he attempted to justify the 9/11 attacks. Some users said the letter opened their eyes and backed his excuse that the terrorist attacks were retaliation for US support of Israel.
The letter also accused the US of spreading AIDS around the world while saying homosexuality is “immoral.”
In response to the poll, James Johnson, founder of J.L. Partners, told the Daily Mail, “It is hard to avoid the conclusion that there is a cancer in the American body politic: a small but sizeable group of its youngest voters.
“Polling has found that 18-29-year-olds are most likely to deny the Holocaust and, in our October Daily Mail poll, we found that Gen Z Americans are more likely to sympathize with Hamas.
“And now we have this on Osama bin Laden, the man behind the biggest attack on American soil in its history.
“And now we have this on Osama bin Laden, the man behind the biggest attack on American soil in its history.”
Johnson spoke about bin Laden’s writings going viral and the praise heaped on him by young Americans, which he said some wrote off as “a few shrill voices on social media,” and others suggesting “it was fake.”
“This poll shows that was no fad but a reflection of real opinion amongst one in five 18-29-year-olds.
Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald and was killed in the North Tower on 9/11, called the poll results “horrifying” and a “disturbing” sign that terrorism is being “normalized.”
She told the Daily Mail her final conversation with her husband was when he called her after United Flight 175 hit the second tower.
Strada, the national chair of 9/11 Families United, has been fighting for justice for her husband’s murder and for the families of other attack victims.
“What is wrong with our youth?” she asked. “How do they not realize the horrors of terrorism? This is a dangerous and slippery slope to go down.”
Strada lays the blame precisely where it belongs–on the U.S. public schools not teaching the truth about 9/11 and those responsible. She said the role of first responders is covered in the lessons, but for some reason, the role of terrorists or state actors is omitted. That cannot be by accident.
Strada was instrumental in pressuring the US government to reveal ties between Saudi Arabia and the hijackers as they attempted to “sweep them under the rug.”
She said the poll results “will leave a terrible legacy for the children of 9/11 victims who could still be seeking answers as the ‘vile’ attacks slip from the national consciousness,” the Daily Mail wrote.
Brett Eagleson, 15, when his father died in the South Tower at Ground Zero, noted the poll shows young people are being “perverted” by the US government’s “feckless inability” to hold the responsible parties to account.
Eagleson also has been fighting for justice for the families of 9/11 victims and demanded the United States government be more “transparent about Saudi involvement.”
“We have never been told the full story or truth about what happened to us on 9/11,” Eagleson told the Daily Mail.
“So it’s no wonder why today’s youth and adolescents have taken such extremist views supporting the evil that visited us that day. We have a two-decades-long government cover-up to blame for this.”
“The minds of this country’s youth are being perverted by our government’s feckless inability, to be honest with itself and hold the rightful parties accountable, so we actually have a situation where a significant number of young people are praising the murder and death of our neighbors.”
Eagleson also slammed those fawning over bin Laden’s viral letter on TikTok, noting that the terrorist mastermind wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.
Aside from slamming Israel and blaming the US for spreading AIDS around the world, bin Laden’s letter made numerous anti-Semitic remarks and suggested that American society was infiltrated by Jewish people who “control your policies, media, and economy.”
The influence of Chinese-influenced TikTok cannot be understated. According to a Pew Research Poll in November, it found Americans getting their news from the social media site had quadrupled from three percent in 2020 to 14 percent in 2023. A third of those under 30 said they “regularly” received news from TikTok.
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