According to the website SITE Intelligence Group, David Letterman is the newest high-profile target of al-Qaida. The online threat came in reaction to a Late Show joke where Letterman drew his finger across his neck when talking about the death of senior al-Qaida member Ilyas Kashmiri. The message reads as follows:
“Is there not amongst you a Sayyid Nosair al-Masri (may Allah release him) to cut the tongue of this lowly Jew and shut it forever. Just as Sayyid (may Allah release him) did with the Jew Kahane.”
Nosair was acquitted in a state trial of the murder of Meir Kahane, the founder of the Jewish Defense League, in 1991. He was later retried and convicted in federal court. An FBI spokesperson told the Associated Press that the agency is analyzing the threats, “We take every potential threat seriously,” he said. CBS has not yet released a statement. The Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group is an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorist organizations. To read a terrific feature profile of Rita Katz, the founder of SITE, be sure to visit The New Yorker.
