9/11/2001: Jerusalem's Old City residents react with joy, horror to attacks (Exclusive Podcast) UPDATE

Via Cox & Forkum (of course...)

From The Jerusalem Post 9/11/2001:

(23:00) Old City residents react with joy, horror to attacks

On a visit throughout Jerusalem's Old City, JPost Radio's Dave Bender heard a spectrum of opinions about today's horrific terrorist attacks along the US eastern seaboard.

Some Palestinians celebrated upon hearing about the attack, calling it a fit and proper response to US support for Israel. Others were saddened by the scope of the horror.

Local Christian residents of the Old City were dismayed, somber.

American Christian tourists were simply frightened.

A group of American Jewish seminary students from New York were worried for the fate of their families, still trapped on Manhattan island.

JPost Radio report (Windows Media Player format).

---

UPDATE: Here is the latest list of the names and profiles of the victims.

From The Sacramento Bee:

Some Muslims say the texts unfairly paint all people of their faith as terrorists. They say frequent references to “Arab terrorists,” “Muslim terrorists,” “Muslim extremists,” or “Islamic fundamentalists” give schoolchildren a negative impression of their religion.

“Because these terms are repeated so many times, it’s very alarming,” said Maren Shawesh, of the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. “We don’t want these younger students to grow up with that perception of Islam and Muslims.”

The ABC miniseries movie The Path to 9/11 apparently puts some of the blame for that day on inaction by the Clinton administration. Democrats have complained about the fictionalizing of historical details, and now Variety reports: Pols pound 'Path'; Under fire, ABC mulls yanking mini. Dick Morris has responded to some of the complaints. And even The New York Times praised The Path to 9/11"

I can't comment on the movie, but if it's essentially accurate in the required summation and fictionalization of events, then the movie should stand whether the particulars match history or not. "Fake but accurate" is not an acceptable standard for journalism, but it is absolutely necessary for art. And this is a movie not a documentary.

And lastly, five years later there's no shortage of conspiracy theories about 9/11, one even from a Florida Democratic candidate. It shouldn't even be necessary, but some people are vigilantly debunking of the deniers:

Screw Loose Change by Mark Iradian is an excellent site dedicated to debunking a video known as "Loose Change" that propagates leftist 9/11 conspiracy theories.

MEMRI has just released a new online documentary: The Arab and Iranian Reaction to 9/11 -- Five Years Later. It uses footage from Middle East television and is narrated by actor Ron Silver. One quote from the film by an Middle East columnist: "I have a sneaking suspicion that George W. Bush was involved in the operations of September 11, as was Colin Powell." (See YouTube trailer here.)