British pro-Palestinian activist Moazzam Begg described Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” as a “voice of freedom” last week in Glasgow, hours after news of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney began to emerge, the Telegraph reported.
Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, made the comments at a small conference on Islamophobia organized by Scotland Against Criminalising Communities. He later said he was referring to the Guardian’s publication of the letter, which was taken down in 2023 after going viral on TikTok.
Begg said the letter referenced “Palestine” repeatedly and argued that TikTok engagement showed some young Westerners “understand” the motivation behind 9/11, according to the Telegraph. He did not address the Bondi attack in his speech but later called it “callous” on X while condemning the IDF as “depraved,” the report said.
Lord Walney, Labour’s former anti-extremism tsar, called the comments “astonishing” and “vile,” saying the government should not accept any definition of Islamophobia that shields such views from scrutiny. A Scottish Conservative MSP said the remarks amounted to “vile hate speech” and demanded an apology.
The remarks came as Australia confronted the aftermath of the mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that left at least 15 dead, including a Chabad emissary, and wounded others.
Begg referenced the 2023 wave of TikTok videos engaging with bin Laden’s 2002 letter, which framed the United States as an imperial power and justified attacks on civilians who pay taxes. The trend drew widespread condemnation and prompted the Guardian to remove its archived text.
Begg, a dual British-Pakistani national detained by the US in the early 2000s and released in 2005, was arrested in August 2025 at a London demonstration in connection with support for Palestine Action.
The UK has since proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, making public support for the group a criminal offense, British authorities said.
