Celebrations of the September 11, 2001 attacks

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Photos of these Palestinian children were widely circulated shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Allegedly, they are celebrating the attacks. German media analyzing the whole film highlighted that the surrounding area is relatively quiet, that the people celebrating only appear briefly and then quickly disappear, and that a single person in a white T-shirt (shown here in the background) appears to have incited the children. (Fair use of AP photo)

The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack occasioned apparent spontaneous outbreaks of public celebration in a number of Arab Muslim communities. Press and television coverage of these celebrations were met with shock and outrage in the United States. However, later media analysis cast doubt on the motivations and extent of the celebrations, and many Muslim groups moved to distance themselves from such behavior.

There were reports of celebrations on the West Bank, and at the time there was an urban legend that the footage of some Palestinians celebrating the attacks was rebroadcast footage of palestinain reactions to the invasion of Kuwait, a decade prior to 2001. This rumor was proven false shortly afterwards,^[1] and the media circulated that fact.^{[citation needed]}

This woman claims she was offered a piece of cake for celebrating in front of the camera. (Fair use of AP photo)

However, the US media did not widely circulate European media reports (by the German weeklies Der Spiegel and Stern, by the German public TV magazine Panorama and by the Swedish Dagens Nyheter) that while the footage was indeed correctly dated, reporters may have partly staged one of the scenes. One woman later claimed she was offered a piece of pie for whooping it up in front of the camera. It is unclear whether it was explained to the woman what she was supposedly celebrating, nor is it clear whether the person who offered her the treat was a reporter.^[2] The Panorama TV report which analyzed the full video footage noted (translated):

A closer look at the complete film material which was not broadcast shows that the street around the celebration is quiet. Only in front of the camera there are a few excited children. The woman, who is remembered for her cheering, shortly afterwards moves along quietly. A man in a white T-shirt is conspicuous. He incites the children, and keeps fetching new people. The woman who just left the picture says today that she was offered cake if she celebrates on camera, and that she was appalled when she saw the pictures on television.^[3]

On the day of the attacks, Times Newspapers LTD. (British) reported that 3,000 celebrants were pouring into the streets of Nablus and dozens of people were celebrating in Arab East Jerusalem.^[4]

The Palestinian Authority recognized the matter as a public-relations nightmare and moved quickly to censor further reports of public celebrations. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority could not "guarantee the life" of an Associated Press cameraman if footage he filmed of post-9/11 celebrations was broadcast. Rahman's statement prompted a formal protest from the AP bureau chief, Dan Perry.^[5] A few days after the September 11th attacks, Yasser Arafat symbolically donated blood for victims of the attacks.