A political cartoon from Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper claimed that Hasan committed atrocities as a result of American influence.

Octavia Nasr | BIO
AC360° Contributor
CNN Senior Editor, Mideast Affairs

On TV and among ordinary Arabs and Muslims, condemnation of the Fort Hood attack was front and center. But radical Islamist groups were quick to hail Nidal Hasan as a "hero." On several radical sites, they described the shooting rampage at Fort Hood as "the blessed jihadist attack."

A fundamentalist group even produced a video clip showing images from the shooting aftermath while they played jihadi songs glorifying the act. At the end of the video they displayed this chilling caption in English:

"Our attacks will never stop till you take out your army from our lands."

Photos of Major Nidal Hasan, the suspect in Thursday's shooting spree, were flashed on TV screens across the globe. That included Arab and Muslim regions.

On Arab networks, the coverage focused mainly on the facts. Reporters and guests analyzed Hasan's Palestinian roots and stressed the fact that he was born, raised and schooled in the U.S. and served in its military.

Editorials such as one from Al-Arabiya by Elias Harfoush, tied the killing to racism as the author tried to answer why would a professional such as Hasan allegedly commit such a heinous act. Harfouche wrote, "It's a paradox that when the US celebrates its first president of Muslim origins, a Muslim American has no qualms killing 13 fellow Americans."

In the meantime, a political cartoon from Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper claimed that Hasan committed atrocities as a result of American influence.