I guess most of us, maybe every one of us, here have experienced the 911 attack as a third-hand experience. We were fortunate. We weren’t the people trapped in the twin towers or lost a family member because of the incident – a very cruel act of terrorism. It is uncanny though, how one day can mean so little to someone, yet change the entire life of another.
When I saw this book one day in the bookstore – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It featured a nine-year-old boy whose father died in the terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and what came into my mind at the time was, “this is an interesting book to read,” but I found out that it was more than interesting. It made you feel differently about this whole incident. The feeling this book gave me was intense. You become emotional from the solid text on the book. You envision how the kid struggled with insomnia, panic attacks, and depression, how he dealt with depression by harming himself, and lastly how he wouldn’t give up on finding out what the key he found in a vase was for.
According to Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter to America”, he explicitly stated that al-Qaeda’s motives for their attacks include the West’s support for: attacking Muslims in Somalia, Russian’s atrocities against Muslims in Chechnya, India’s oppression against Muslims in Kashmir, the Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon, the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, US support of Israel, and sanctions against Iraq. Consequently, if I were to define September 11, I would say that it was a tragic outcome of intolerance. We are living in a world that allows anyone to incite violence against people who think differently, act differently or simply are different. And, that is something we need to change.
In conclusion, when you think about 9/11, beyond offering respect to the victims and beyond disparaging terrorism and violence, think of tolerance. Think of acceptance. Examine your own values and those of others around you…because the end to all of this needless suffering begins with each and every one of you.
Say no to terrorism. Be the change you want to see.
