September 11: Ten Years On

39 thoughts on “September 11: Ten Years On”

  1. What isn't well known is that the first person to fight the hijackers (and possibly be killed by them) was an American Israeli who had been in an Israeli army anti-terrorism unit. He was on his way back to the US for business reasons, and ended up on one of the planes that hit either the towers or the Pentagon. (It has been a while since I read it, and I can't find it online, so I am fuzzy on the details.) Ironically, he would sometimes get trouble flying because of his Tfillin.

    This is from the family, for whom the tape was played by U.S. authorities. They think the tape may have been redacted between the times they heard it, which is why they aren't sure if he was killed then. I read this in one of the Chareidi publications (which had quite a bit of detail) a while back, and I also have some confirmation from personal sources.

      1. I see there is a Wikipedia page on him. I recommend people take a look at it, and at the link to Sayeret Matkel, description on top.

        If anyone has the article I read, please let me know.

  2. Ten years ago I was working in the UK headquarters of a major Cable TV provider. After the first plane hit, people (myself included) wandered over to one of the monitoring rooms and began to watch. We had live feeds of every major news channel on multiple monitors. I watched live as the second plane hit and then both collapses.

    After that I got in my car and drove home to be with my family and to see if we could get in touch with the people we knew in NYC. Fortunately we managed to find everybody alive and well quite quickly.

    One person close to me did have a business interest in the basement of the WTC but fortunately, just as in 1993, the staff there all got out fine even though the business was destroyed. Months later he got a call that his property had been reached via the digging: it was covered in dust and so on but had not been crushed. Nothing mattered save that the people were all OK.

  3. I had not been watching TV, listening to the radio or had not even gone on line to see what was going on in the world (were there even news aggregators like IsraellyCool, Drudge and Huffington Post 10 years ago?). So I only learned of the attacks hours after the events took place and that it was quite clear they were indeed terrorist attacks. I turned on NPR on my car radio and the first thing I heard was a reference to the site in lower Manhattan, in the words of the newsman, "where the World Trade Center used to stand." It took me several minutes to grasp what was going on. My first impression was that this was some kind of radio play, like Orson Wells' "War of the Worlds."

    1. "were there even news aggregators like IsraellyCool, Drudge and Huffington Post 10 years ago"?

      Two words: Monica Lewinsky.

      Yes, there were.

  4. I remember thinking when it happened, that people would be late to work because of the extra pre-Rosh HaShana prayers. I turned out that this, plus many other things, such as the primary run-off and frankly Heavenly mercy, kept to death toll to a fraction to what it "should" have been.

    Not everyone made it, of course. One guy I knew from High School, Shimmy Biegeleisen, whose Dad ran one of the largest Hebrew book stores, got caught in there. He was on the phone with his wife and Hatzalah until the end; this was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal a couple of times. If any ani-semite tries to tell you no Jews were killed in the towers….

    1. A detailed list of Jews who perished in WTC: names, occupations, brief accounts etc., can be found here under "The 4,000 Jews Rumor":

      america.gov/st/pubs-english/2007/November/20050114145729atlahtnevel0.1679041.html

      1. Wow. Isn't is amazing that this is necessary. To be fair, there were also rumors that the Muslim vendors were missing, so it sometimes does go both ways.

        This, by the way, is why both my father and (late) grandfather belong to an organization called the Jewish War Veterans. People denied there were any.

  5. Working on the computer as today (that’s my line), and then someone from the neighboring room shouts, “Turn on the TV! There’s been a mega-attack in the U.S.A.!”

    Note how straight away the other person realized it was a deliberate attack and not an accident. As for me, after the initial “You gotta be kidding me!” I had no doubts it was Muslims that had done that. The intuition that comes with being an Israeli Jew…

    The rest of the day: A frantic series of tries to find out about a relative staying in New York at the time (she was away from the area of attacks, thank God). Then, glued in front of the TV until no longer able to hold.

    1. Driving from Baltimore to work at the Washington suburb of Burtonsville, I was listening to WCBM. Basically as it happened, Tom Marr of that station predicted Osama Bin Laden would be mixed in.

      On the way home (everyone left a bit early), I was a bit nervous as I was passing the base where NSA is located. That evening there was a parlor meeting where the rabbi of my Dad's small congregation spoke, and he mentioned some people connected to the congregation who had just missed being there.

      I was always wondering what had happened to the people in the PATH. At one point, when looking for work, I used to come in on the PATH, get off in the two-story mall in the basement of the WTC, by an Economist (before I gave up on it), and go from there to my interview.

      1. I can confirm that the business I was talking about was under the WTC in the subway/PATH mall. I know my friend's employees down there all got out in time. At least one of them remembered the '93 attack and needed no second encouragement to get as far away as possible. I believe most who were down there got out in time.

  6. Yesterday night a cable news channel run by the local Communist Party in the province where I live ran a story on how the Jews/Israelis working at the WTC had kept away from work on that fateful day.The absurdity of the canard passed on as news was only accentuated by the unvarnished glee at the misfortune that had struck their paradise's nemesis.The newscaster was almost finding it too difficult to hide a smile as he introduced a report on how Bush's "Cowboy" politics had precipitated the "decline of the American economy"- (the local Communists here probably sleep a lot easier nowadays as the dream of an America where the unemployed starving masses queue up in front of soup kitchens, only to be turned back).

    The video of the Palestinians celebrating the collapse of the twin towers set me thinking about how little the world has changed since then.I remember that the BBC ran similar reports-I saw it myself-but I find that their archives have been scrubbed clean of them.Ditto for CNN and NBC.A Youtube search for them is now muddied by crackpots peddling the hidden Israeli/Jewish conspiracy hogwash.

    A friend of mine who worked in the UAE during that time told me that there was a sudden elation amongst his Arab colleagues in the immediate aftermath of the attacks-something he initially attributed to schadenfreude -only to be reversed when he saw celebrations,albeit on small scales when he was driving back home.Later, he learned that the UAE government -one of America's better allies in the Arab world-forbade celebratory gatherings and other overt displays of jubilation; but my friend tells me that his colleagues remained buoyant for weeks thereafter.

    I would like to know if any of the Israelycool readers have come across videos,literature,resources that have preserved the Arab reaction in the aftermath of the attacks.

    1. As I pointed out above, Jews certainly died in the towers. This is similar the lies regarding the Black Death.

      The American media basically stopped playing the films of the attacks. Supposedly this was out of respect, but I think it was raw politics – they didn't want support for the war effort with a Republican in the White House. Similarly to the lack of films, compared to transparently anti-American ones (Syriana, for example) put out by Hollywood.

      If we had today's arts and media in the 40's, we would be dead and everyone else would be speaking German.

      1. Well said. Especially the comparison of the 9/11 Jews Libel to the Black Death Jews Libel—I’m so keeping it for use as a response if the need comes.

  7. I would like everyone to remember all the freedom we have lost, the police state that continues to grow, the 38000 young men and women who died for nothing, the 34000 Afghans who died for nothing, and the 126000+ Iraqis who died for nothing.

    We have not won; we have lost. We continue to lose as long as we do nothing to regain our freedom or atone for our sins. We continue to lose as we kill thousands of people who have no idea why we are there and occupy their lands.

    (by occupy, I refer to the US, not Israel, which occupies nothing)

    Israel rebuilds, remains vigilant, and moves forward. We havent done any of that at all and we still languish in Sept 12.

    1. “…the 34000 Afghans who died for nothing, and the 126000+ Iraqis who died for nothing.”

      If you mean those invasions and occupations were wastes of blood and treasure, I wholly agree with you. I make that argument myself.

      But if you mean those invasions and occupations were immoral, then I totally disagree. Those Afghans and Iraqis might not be directly connected with 9/11, but innocent they weren’t—they celebrated the attacks just like Muslims everywhere.

      “…or atone for our sins.”

      Please. What are the Muslims doing to atone for their sins? They are, after all, the culprits here, and far beyond the 9/11 attacks in both location and date.

      “Israel rebuilds, remains vigilant, and moves forward. We havent done any of that at all and we still languish in Sept 12.”

      Israel and the U.S.A. have made the exact same mistake in the fight against Islamic imperialism: Leaving to reside on their lands the very populace from which 100% of suicide-murder terrorists emanate.

      1. "But if you mean those invasions and occupations were immoral, then I totally disagree. Those Afghans and Iraqis might not be directly connected with 9/11, but innocent they weren't—they celebrated the attacks just like Muslims everywhere."
        Afghanistan was somewhat moral, but unnecessary. The Taliban offered to hand over OBL if we could prove it. The only people that celebrated were the Arabs in Ramallah. Other Arabs said we had it coming. The Afghans havent a clue why the US troops are even there: http://rt.com/news/911-afghans-al-qaeda-taliban-0… 92% of men in the rural provinces have never heard of 9/11.

        You dont know me well enough. I attack the Muslims just as much, if not more. I oppose the American Empire and the Islamic Caliphate, and I think Israel is caught in the middle and should not trust either. Our sins mainly refers to the all the death and destruction the US caused in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. But also the 1953 coup in Iran, the support for the dictators across the Middle East, the US troops staying in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. All of this caused 9/11.

        The US makes the mistake of cowering in fear. Israel, as I said, rebuilds. Honestly, if Id been president I would say simply that we will clean up and rebuild and show that we will not be changed by lunatics from abroad. The towers should have been rebuilt with a better structure and thats it. That would send a better message of pride, freedom, and strength.

        1. “The only people that celebrated were the Arabs in Ramallah. Other Arabs said we had it coming.”

          A distinction without much of a difference, then.

          “I oppose the American Empire and the Islamic Caliphate,…”

          What’s this American Empire people talk about? Every time I asked evidence for this (prevalently) lefty talking point, I was pointed out to international corporations, “dollar imperialism” and other such stuff that’s nowhere near imperialism in the conventional sense.

          “…and I think Israel is caught in the middle and should not trust either.”

          The Jewish State should not take any non-Jewish state as its ally—thus far I agree. (Because alliances have that tendency to fail even when both sides are of the best intentions.) However, to talk of a bipolar struggle between American and Islamic empire with Israel caught in the middle is to invent things out of thin air. Wherever America acts against Israel, I can always point to the Marxist or Buchananite (Old Right, paleocon faux-isolationist) traitor pulling the strings.

          “Our sins mainly refers to the all the death and destruction the US caused in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. But also the 1953 coup in Iran, the support for the dictators across the Middle East, the US troops staying in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. All of this caused 9/11.”

          OK, now you’ve gone full lefty with that kind of talk. Are the Muslims only reacting agents to outside actions? Do they not have minds, desires and imperialistic ambitions of their own?

          I say yes to the latter options. The cause of 9/11 is Islam’s imperialistic program; the Twin Towers were chosen as a grand show of how Islam was able to fell the giant, a sort of “David vs. Goliath” posture. The reasons you have given are nothing but excuses. As the Danish Cartoons Affair has shown, they are capable of justifying their rampages on the flimsiest of pretexts. The real reason is always Islam’s in-built ideology of world domination.

          “The US makes the mistake of cowering in fear. Israel, as I said, rebuilds.”

          Both are irrelevant to this war. Yes, it would be good to rebuild the towers; however, the greater focus should be on prevention of future attacks. The way to achieve that is not rebuilding, not negotiations, not appeasement, nor even sending troops aboard. The way is to boot off the Muslim colonialists off one’s soil. As in Israel, so in the U.S.A. and so too in Western Europe. There is no politically correct way to win this war.

          1. "What's this American Empire people talk about? Every time I asked evidence for this (prevalently) lefty talking point, I was pointed out to international corporations, "dollar imperialism" and other such stuff that's nowhere near imperialism in the conventional sense."
            Theyre communist idiots. The real empire is the thousands of troops in Germany, Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc. The empire is the bombing of Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, and Somalia. The Empire is whatever else we dont know. There are US troops and CIA agents in almost, if not, every country on Earth.

            "The Jewish State should not take any non-Jewish state as its ally—thus far I agree. (Because alliances have that tendency to fail even when both sides are of the best intentions.) However, to talk of a bipolar struggle between American and Islamic empire with Israel caught in the middle is to invent things out of thin air. Wherever America acts against Israel, I can always point to the Marxist or Buchananite (Old Right, paleocon faux-isolationist) traitor pulling the strings."

            I frankly dont trust the US. Its been proven to switch sides on the flip of a dime. Most of the support for Israel comes from people who want us to accept a carpenter as our personal savior.

            "OK, now you've gone full lefty with that kind of talk. Are the Muslims only reacting agents to outside actions? Do they not have minds, desires and imperialistic ambitions of their own?"
            Its both, but attacking the twin towers wasnt really a move for the Caliphate. At least not directly. It was partially to provoke a civilization war, that would help unify the Muslims and Arabs.

            "The real reason is always Islam's in-built ideology of world domination."
            You dont attack an icon to show youre after world domination. It obviously creates a huge backlash against Islam. They do other stuff like demographic imperialism.

            "Both are irrelevant to this war. Yes, it would be good to rebuild the towers; however, the greater focus should be on prevention of future attacks. The way to achieve that is not rebuilding, not negotiations, not appeasement, nor even sending troops aboard. The way is to boot off the Muslim colonialists off one's soil. As in Israel, so in the U.S.A. and so too in Western Europe. There is no politically correct way to win this war."
            Well youre mostly sensible here. Preventing attacks is easy. Even if they are after world domination and thats why they attacked, they will have no popular Muslim support if the US is not occupying Muslim lands (and this refers to land that Muslims actually do own, not what they fantasize about owning) and killing Muslims. Most Muslims dont give two wits about ultra-fringe nonsense, but when they see US troops shooting their brother because he picked up a stick, they support the mythical hero fighting against the US.

            Domestically, security can be upgraded easily and efficiently. And this was done by strengthening cockpit doors, allowing pilots to carry guns. The other crap the TSA has done doesnt do anything but catch stupid terrorists, which wouldnt make it thru training camp anyway. Really the US is under little threat. The entire country is wide open. If a terrorist wanted to, they could walk onto any college campus and commit a massacre.

            I dont really think the Muslims here are a 5th column. In Europe, yea they want to take over. But here they seem to be more integrated. They still have a strong internal community, especially among the youth (I have personal experience), but I dont see it being as bad as Europe.

        2. And there would have been successor attacks, worse ones.

          We were ALREADY at war with Iraq, before 9/11. And they were shooting at our planes. We had every right to invade. And to say we are occupying them is rediculous. (Where IS all of that oil that we were supposedly fighing for, anyway?)

          1. You have no way of knowing that. They didnt even bother putting together an operation because they managed to kill thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. That doesnt at all justify "fighting them there" because more people were lost there and they were soldiers that were lost there, plus trillions of dollars spent. I cant believe you think its good to spend trillions of dollars to accomplish absolutely nothing.

            Yes we were, causing hundreds of thousands of childrens deaths with idiotic sanctions. It was purely the US being at war with Iraq. Why were they shooting at US planes? BECAUSE THEY WERE OVER IRAQI AIRSPACE. What would we do if Iraqi planes were flying over US airspace? come on.

            I dont know. It could be that the point was to increase US business control, not US imports. I think its more of a power and control thing, than a lets get oil thing.

    2. I'm with you on our need to regain our freedom; not so much on the idea we need to atone for our sins (sounds like something an observant Catholic might say). Ironically, this is where Obama has been the problem, not the solution. In too many ways, this has been like the third George W. Bush Administration. Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, renewal of the Patriot Act, military adventurism throughout the Middle East, continuation of big oil energy, buyouts to Wall Street, crumbling of the middle class, etc.

      1. Whats disgusting is the monarchist attitude people have that ignores what I have stated. Our freedoms continue to be crushed, people continue to die for nothing. Bin Laden was allegedly killed. Iraq has some sort of democratic-ish government. its time to come home.

        1. There were people with your attitude before WWII. They were called "isolationists" – and yes, I will use the term. This is what the Jewish community called them.

          If they had had their way, everyone posting on this page (Christina Slavs included) would never have been born – except Jim, who would be in a camp.

          1. I never went to summer camp, but if it were all gay people, I'm sure we'd put on a show. Something like an all-male production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Now that would be camp.

          2. There are wars we fight and there are wars we dont. If we hadnt been in WW1, there wouldnt have been a WW2 or even a Hitler (most likely). Keep tooting that attitude towards the world and there will be another 9/11 and another and another. Eventually, the empire will collapse. You cant pay soldiers with paper forever.

            And thats rubbish. Hitler couldnt even invade Britain, let alone cross 3000 miles of ocean to invade the most armed nation on the planet. A rifle behind every blade of grass?

    3. I find it interesting that you conflate the terrorists and other enemies killed by our troops, the victims of those terrorists, and those caught in the middle. Precisely like the ISM in Gaza.

      1. These are civilian deaths principally, and many were killed by terrorists. I have no sympathy for the terrorists. But I have none either for that entity that attracted them there.

        Needless to say, all of those people, the US troops, etc, have died for absolutely nothing productive.

  8. I was in 6th grade. We were outside later in the day for Science when an announcement was made that there had been "a telecommunications and transportation disruption" in New York City. We were told this in Social Studies. That was my last class, so we all went home not knowing anything. When we got off the bus near my house, my mom was outside and asked if we knew what happened and told us. I then went and watched the coverage for hours.

    I think the Saturday before, my family was in Jersey City or Newark and we saw the towers. And earlier that year we ate at Windows on the World, a ridiculously overpriced, overly fancy restaurant that no 10 year old could appreciate (I guess). But I guess its somewhat unique to have eaten in a place that is now air.

  9. I was walking to work (Columbia University, Upper West Side of Manhattan) when a friend of mine called me from Boston: "What the hell is going on in New York?!" I had no idea. He told me what he had just seen in the news… I won't describe the rest of the day in detail. I do remember vividly that later that day the smell of burning reached the upper boundary of Central Park. Shortly after it was announced on the news that the attacks had been perpetrated by an Islamist terrorist group, flyers appeared on the walls of university buildings explaining that Muslims in general cannot be held accountable for this tragedy and warning the populace against any aggression towards Muslim individuals, Muslim-owned businesses, etc. I remember nodding in agreement and, at the same time, being amazed at how quickly and efficiently these flyers were posted. Definitely before any other official announcements, such as: which subway routes were still open, where to gather for candlelights vigils…

  10. I was in D.C. at a business meeting, on the 3d floor of an office building about a mile from the Pentagon. We heard/felt a thump, that seemed like perhaps an auto accident on the street. A few minutes later, someone came in to tell us that NYC had been attacked. We spent the rest of the morning watching TV in someone's office. Eventually, we walked back to the hotel (a long walk, but no cabs). I was marooned in DC for 5 days. The city was spooky. For most of the time there was virtually no traffic except occasional military vehicles or SUVs going fast. Nothing in the air, of course, except helicopters and military craft. The trains were jammed, and it took a few days before planes could resume. I eventually took a Greyhound bus to Cleveland, and then flew West from there.

    1. Even during the alien invasion of Washington, DC in the film "The Day The Earth Stood Still" there was street traffic. I lived in the area for fifteen years (I went back to Iowa in 1999) and never experienced anything like you describe. The closest thing I experienced was the traffic snarls during the Air Florida disaster when that jet crashed into the 14th Street Bridge.

  11. (off-topic)

    Here is another another nice clip from that awful time. (You will see why I say "nice".)
    http://www.popmodal.com/video/9207/United-Nations

    At the time, I remember the road from Baltimore to Washington. People would stand on overpasses continually waving flags.

    (Sadly, that's all gone now; 9/10 mentality. The press started attacking the war effort from close to day one, and finally wore the people out.)

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