The World Trade Center towers. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

As the world commemorated the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, academics and clerics around the Arab world continue to put forth conspiracy theories blaming Israel and Jews for the attacks.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a Yemenite researcher and academic named Majed Al-Mitri recently said on Arabic television that 9/11 was planned “by the U.S. and by the Jews in a clandestine manner” in order to target “Islam and the Muslims.” Nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“The U.S. is conducting the greatest distortion campaign in its history,” said a second Yemenite academic, Yaha Al-Kateb, calling the attack as “the alleged 9/11 operation by the so-called Al-Qaeda.” He also stated that “the U.S. and Israel had prior knowledge” of the attack.

“The truth is that the fountain of terrorism and its roots are the people who, Allah said, ‘strive to spread corruption in the land.’ These are the people who, because of their corruption, their aggression, their disobedience and their transgressions, were transformed by Allah into apes and pigs,” yet another cleric, Muhsen Al-Shami, said.