Tag Archives: September 11

9/11 Chronicles-Volume 1

911

As we approach the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks I will be posting some of what I wrote on the days following September 11, 2001. The following I wrote within days of the attacks and was the first piece I wrote in reaction to what took place.

Living in NY on 9/11/01

On Tuesday morning Sept.11, 2001, we witnessed an event that will change the world forever. This act committed by the forces of evil against the civilized world is one that changes the shape of our future. As a resident of New York, I have seen a city traumatized, saddened, and angered. We were all abruptly forced to change the way we look at everything that we do and to alter our perspective on a daily basis. The average New Yorker will take serious umbrage to anyone touching something that belongs to them, especially when it belongs to them collectively.
At around 10AM on Tuesday morning I found myself around the corner from the original symbol of New York City, the Empire State Building. I am not ashamed to say that I was afraid to be there, yet like so many others there, felt a comfort in being with my fellow New Yorkers. After managing to get one call out, a call that created a chain to let my family know that I was OK, I started to walk uptown and to the East, and like many of the people who live in Queens, I walked over the 59th Street Bridge. When I looked to my right, where I used to see the symbol of the New York skyline, now all I saw was a trail of black smoke. I got home safely after a day of much walking and fear yet never lost sight of the fact that I was one of the lucky ones.
As someone who considers himself to be a New Yorker I have been deeply moved and grateful for the attitude and support of our fellow Americans. Today when I bought my first American flag, I did it for 2 reasons. Out of a tremendous pride for living in the greatest city in the world, and out of a gratitude and pride for living in the greatest country in the world. This week while we are all Americans, to us in New York it felt like the entire country was a country of New Yorkers.
The war that was declared on us a few days ago was an act of evil against our basic good. But true good will always conquer evil, and the victims of the attack on Tuesday will not die for nothing if the proper actions are taken to make this the beginning of a series of events that will insure the safety and freedom for us and our future generations.

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The Manufacturing of Terrorists: The Real Human Rights Violation

MummyBomberL_468x468As everyone tries to make sense of the Boston Marathon bombings, I sit and wonder why people refuse to accept the reality of the situation.  I maintain that the refusal is based in fear.  Maybe it is fear of the bad guys and the perception of what they will do if you openly hold them responsible for the destruction they are bringing to our planet.  Or maybe it is fear of coming across as too radical.  After all, everyone cares what their friends think about them.  Don’t believe me?  Just check Facebook or Twitter.  Maybe it’s the fear that the truth is just too hard to swallow.  What truth do I speak of?  The fact that that there are modern day Nazi-style regimes either in place or springing up all over the world.  Except this time they are masquerading as so-called religious, more specifically Muslim nations and organizations.

First I will explain the legitimacy and importance of the comparison to Nazi Germany.   The best way to understand the comparison is to look at today’s Germany.  Although no nation is perfect, the Germany of today is a civilized, tolerant, peace-loving society.  Germany did not import new people into their populous after 1945.  However, after the Allies defeated Hitler’s regime, Germany rebuilt, and the basic decency that exists in most human beings became more prevalent than the morally corrupt, evil principals of Nazi Germany.  It is hard for some to believe that Germany could ever have become a good country after 1945, but the fact is that it has.  The point I am making is that in general, it is not the people who are bad, it is their leaders.  And although it was not only justified, but necessary to kill Germans before Hitler’s government fell, many of those killed could in fact be deemed victims as well; as is the case with a large percentage of the world’s Muslim population today.

Hitler rose to power by feeding off the discontent of the people.  After Germany’s defeat in World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was instituted as a means to control and punish Germany for their aggression.  With no desire to make their lives better, Hitler used the people’s subsequent hunger, bitterness, and desperation as a way to not only gain power, but to control their actions.  Anyone Hitler hated, most notably the Jews, was responsible for the plight of the German people, and by making the people believe that not only was their misfortune their fault, but that by eliminating them things would improve, he successfully created a power source that was responsible for mass murder unlike the world had ever seen.  The same formula is being used today.  Except today’s governments and leaders are going one step further.  They are actually creating the misfortune.  I am by no means saying that Hitler was a better man.  I am merely stating that he did not have to crush the morale of his people.  That had already been done prior to his ascent to power, and arguably with justification.  These Muslim regimes have drained the life from the very people they claim to care for the most. 

Now fast forward to the 1960s and the formation of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization).  The PLO was a group that portrayed itself as freedom fighters, fighting for the rights of the displaced Palestinians with the sole purpose of creating a homeland for its people and destroying the State of Israel.  It’s weapon of choice, terrorism against Jews worldwide.  Although tragically successful in murdering people, the PLO accomplished one thing over everything else it claimed to want to accomplish.  It made Yasser Arafat a very rich and powerful man.  And rich he became, owning Hotels in the Swiss Alps and amassing a fortune while his people suffered under the misconception that it was the fault of guess who?  The Jews.  I wonder how many people took the time to facetiously thank Yasser Arafat, the founding father of modern terrorism for the bombing in Boston.  He not only set the stage, but he was complicit in the creation of the new blueprint.

The attacks on September 11, 2001, or as we now refer to it, 9/11, were attacks organized by Osama bin-Laden, but perpetrated by Saudi Arabian nationals.  Saudi Arabia, a nation so wealthy that the royal family recently gifted its people $36 billion in the hope of placating the  population enough to avoid uprisings similar to so many other Arab nations since the start of the “Arab Spring”.  Like so many other corrupt governments, the Saudi royal family has managed to keep its people down, creating a segment of the population that feels its only future and purpose is to destroy those responsible for their life’s deficiencies.  What was once only Israel’s fault is now also the fault of the entire western world, mainly the United States.  They convince their people that the reason things are so bad is the dominance of the corrupt, non-Muslim infidels of Israel and the United States.  By doing this they believe they strengthen their power base and maintain control of the government and yes, more importantly the money.  After all, happy people tend to gravitate towards Democracy, a dangerous concept for these people.

As other nations and organizations use this same model, they teach their children that murdering people is OK, as long as you do it with a purpose.  If the Jews and Americans are evil, anything you do to hurt them makes your life worthwhile.  The fact is that these children are victims as well.  They are victims of a violation of Human Rights unprecedented in history. They are being made into terrorists.   If Hamas and Hezbollah truly value the lives of their people, would they teach their young to blow themselves up?  If these children were given a chance for a life do you truly believe they would want to be part of this despicable behavior?  Of course not.  As some would like to believe that the reason the Palestinians and Israelis do not live in peace is the creation of Jewish settlements, the real reason there is no peace is because the beginning of peace marks the end of Hamas, Hezbollah, and ultimately even  regimes such as the current Iranian government and the Saudi monarchy.  I find it ironic how I once loved Pink Floyd because the music was so intelligent only to find myself now having trouble listening to their music because their front man Roger Waters has shown such ignorance and stupidity in calling for boycotts against Israel.   Is he really that stupid?  Or is he too afraid of the truth.  The truth that in order to maintain their power over their people, these leaders manufacture terrorists, and do so at such remarkable efficiency that they have now begun to do what so many other successful manufacturers do, export their product, as seen last week in Boston.  You see now they have found a new method.  Target young Muslims anywhere in the world and if they are fortunate enough to be malcontents, teach them how their life can have meaning by killing innocent people.

I know that seeing the United States give financial aid to Egypt’s new government is a hard pill to swallow seeing how the Muslim Brotherhood’s rhetoric is as bad as the other’s, but the truth is that supporting the governments that arise out of the Arab Spring may just be the last peaceful option.  If somehow these new governments would provide their people with real purpose and a hope at a decent life, the hope would be, albeit it unlikely, terrorists would no longer have such a significant breeding ground.  If however it does not work, the only way to eliminate it will be by powerful force, force that will most likely cause loss of life we have not seen since World War II.  The problem is, using the analogy of cancer, when force conquered Nazi Germany and their allies in World War II the cancer was a series of highly recognizable cancers in specific parts of the world body.  Today’s cancer has spread so intricately worldwide it will be much harder to eliminate.  And don’t look to the United Nations for help.  The reason the UN has not only recognized, but supported terror groups and evil regimes over the years is because of one thing, money.

And finally, before anyone reads this and thinks this is an anti-Islam rant, know that the motivation for writing this is the very pleasant interaction I regularly have with an Egyptian street vendor.  I look at him and realize the people are not the problem, their leadership is.  Sadly, should anyone rise up from within their ranks and attempt to lead the people in a better direction, a direction of peace and at least the potential for prosperity, that person’s life would be in immediate and grave danger.  After all, anything that stands in the way of their manufacturing process, the one that manufactures terrorists, would be something they would need to eliminate.   If you are frightened or saddened by this harsh reality remember this.  Not facing it will ultimately lead to a worse one.  One that should be unacceptable to any civilized human being, whether or not that human being is a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or any other believer or non-believer.

 

 

 

 


We are all Bostonians

bostonOn September 11, 2001 as a New York resident, I had tremendous gratitude for the support around the world and throughout the entire country.  On that day everyone was a New Yorker.  The support helped a city recover.

Today we are all Bostonians.


Thankfully, We Feel

sandy-hook-shooting_10842950It’s often been said that good can be found even at the worst of times.  Although the events of yesterday are horrific beyond comprehension, I would like to use this post to speak of hope and offer a reason why we should be encouraged as a people and as a nation.  On what do I base this statement?  Simply put, we still care.

The shooting in Newtown, Ct. that took 26 lives, 20 of them children, caused public grief on a level I have not seen since September 11, 2001.  These are two very different tragedies and I am by no means attempting to compare them, but just as it felt that everyone shared a common sadness then, it feels as though we all share a common sadness now.  With incidents such as these seemingly increasing, you start to wonder whether or not as a society we will become desensitized.  Instead, what I saw was a nation devastated and grief-stricken.  Even though there are certain issues connected to the tragedy that clearly divide us, there was no difference of opinion on how sad what happened was for everyone.

It would be easy to say that of course everyone would feel grief-stricken today, but I maintain that is something not to be taken for granted.  If the time ever comes that we are desensitized, it is then that we will truly be in trouble.  I take solace tonight in the fact that we still care enough to be genuinely sad and feel deeply enough to be passionately angry.  With what feels sometimes truly like a world gone mad, our hope rests in the fact that we still are capable of feeling the emotions we feel, and even with our society sometimes struggling to stay healthy,  as long as we still care, we are not lost.

May God bless the victims of this tragedy and give strength to all those suffering