Remembering 9/11, 23 Years (and One Week) Later
September 11 is not simply a piece of history — it’s a lesson that we have forgotten.
Photo of the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan taken by Leo Saperstein ‘26.
Last week, we remembered one of the greatest tragedies to befall our nation. On September 11th, 23 years ago, two hijacked planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center in the heart of Manhattan, one crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, and one — bound for the U.S. Capitol building as well — crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. There were no survivors on any of the planes. The attacks left thousands of people dead and thousands more injured. It was a terrorist attack that devastated the nation and shocked the world.
As a New Yorker, the memory of 9/11 looms large. Everyone in my family had been to the Twin Towers for one reason or another. My great-grandparents had their anniversary party atop one of the towers in the early 1990s. My parents were living in Manhattan in 2001. My dad recalls watching the twin towers fall with his own eyes, then walking several miles home along with thousands of others because there was no other transportation. My uncle lost a good friend who was on one of the planes. Talking last week to my mom, she was holding back tears as she told me about a girl in our apartment building in Manhattan who was born after her father had been killed.
Twenty three years later, we still remember the victims of the attacks. National and local leaders gather each year at the site of the Twin Towers to read the names of every single person lost that day. This year, as I ruminate about the events since last September, 9/11 takes on a deeper and more urgent meaning than in previous years.
Now why would I bring this up? The September 11th attack occurred 23 years ago! Why am I rekindling thoughts and fears of the past? As an American, the memory of 9/11 knows no statute of limitations. This was the largest attack on US soil since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Like December 7th, September 11th is a day that lives in infamy. It reminded us that we have enemies, and they seek to destroy us, our nation, and our way of life. And those folks, when we’re not looking, get to our doorstep.
Right now, we’re not looking, at least not as carefully as we should.
To say that a lot has happened since last September 11th would be an understatement bordering on absurdity. The eyes of the world are once again on the Middle East. Tensions have re-emerged in the wake of Israel’s own 9/11. On October 7, Hamas militants invaded southern Israel and massacred Israeli civilians in nearby kibbutzim and at the Re’im Music Festival. An estimated 1,200 Israelis were killed on that day and around 250 civilians were taken hostage by Hamas (at least 65 of whom have since been killed). Hamas also committed acts of sexual violence against Israeli civilians and burned families alive.
Since October 7, another war between Israel and Hamas has commenced. Iran and its other proxies — namely Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen — perhaps emboldened by the tepid international response to the atrocities by Hamas, have also attacked Israel with drone strikes and missiles. Europe has not been immune from the resurgence of terrorism — an ISIS threat canceled a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria, and a theater in Moscow was attacked by members of ISIS-K, to name just two of several recent terror events.
As the war in Israel and Gaza drags on, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris continue to treat Hamas as a legitimate negotiating partner, thereby giving it far too much leverage in ceasefire talks. They have attempted diplomacy with a death cult, and it’s so far resulted in Hamas murdering one of our own. Last month, 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was deliberately shot in the back of the head by Hamas, killing him. The Biden administration’s approach to solving the conflict is by no means supportive to Hamas, but it certainly smacks of a degree of acceptance for the terrorists, perceived somehow as just part of the way the world works, part of the new normal of how non-state actors (and in the case of Iran and other outlaw nations, state actors) achieve their aims.
As a country, we have become desensitized to terrorism. While it may seem that American support for terrorism — or at least tacit tolerance for its means — is only present in certain pockets of the world, the reality is that it’s much deeper and more pervasive.
Let me take you back to last November — when TikTok was at the front and center of the news — and not for good reasons. Osama Bin Laden’s “A Letter to the American People” — his manifesto explaining his motives for the 9/11 attacks — quickly became viral across the platform, with some TikTok users praising the Al-Qaeda leader and claiming that 9/11 was justified. One of these videos received 14 million views on TikTok.
If you think terrorist sympathy is exclusive to the internet, then you are sadly mistaken. On college campuses across the country, there is vociferous support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, as seen at multiple protests and encampments.
At Princeton, Hezbollah flags were displayed at the pro-Palestine encampment in April. At Columbia University, there was a video that surfaced the featured a girl, face covered, shouting at pro-Israel counter-protesters, “We are Hamas…We’re all Hamas.” Another protester added, “Long live Hamas!” Mind you that the main campus of Columbia is just eleven miles away from the World Trade Center. And, lest you forget, Hamas and Hezbollah are both officially designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.
At a different pro-Palestine protest in New York City in December, there were chants of “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud. Turn another ship around,” referring to attacks from the Houthis — another officially designated terrorist organization — bombing commercial ships in the Red Sea.
This sympathy towards terrorism is not only happening on the political left; it's happening on the right as well.
On January 6, 2021, after months of false claims from then President Donald Trump that he had won the 2020 election, his supporters attempted to overturn Biden’s legitimate victory by storming the Capitol while Congress was certifying the results. Five people died in connection to the assault and more than 100 others were injured. This attempted insurrection was an act of domestic terrorism; it was the use of violence against a government building intended to threaten the safety of members of Congress, both of which put our democracy in jeopardy. The biggest tragedy of this sad chapter is that the man who incited this attack is the 2024 Republican nominee for President of the United States. If this is not enough evidence that we have acceded to the normalizing of terrorist tactics, then I don’t know what is.
Most college students were born after 9/11, and even 2001 altogether. For us, it’s easy to see 9/11 as just another piece of history. Although I was born in 2003, I realize that the attack only happened two years prior, and that it happened just 32 miles from where I live today — and just 2.7 miles from where I met up with a good friend of mine for coffee just a few weeks ago.
This year, the remembrance of 9/11 has provided us with an opportunity to re-learn a valuable lesson. Since last year, we’ve seen a rise of terrorism, support for radical fundamentalists, and praise for Hamas, Hezbollah, and even Osama Bin Laden. And on the flip side of the spectrum, we see a Republican party and half the electorate still enthralled by the same Donald Trump who — at the very least — did nothing to stop a domestic terror attack. We must continue — and finish — the fight against terrorism. It is critical that we keep our eyes open, that we do not let ourselves be lulled into thinking any of this is normal, acceptable, or just the way things are. The yearly anniversary seems to have become simply one of reading the names of those we lost without any further reckoning of the lessons. September 11 can and should serve as a reminder of those lost, but it must also serve as a reminder to us of our duty, as the leader of the free world, to never stand down, and fight against terrorism, both here and abroad. Because when we don’t, tragedy strikes our nation.
Brian, are you suggesting 9/11 didn’t change everything?