It has become a tradition of this newspaper to dedicate an editorial in remembrance of 9/11. We’ll keep this one short not because we have nothing to say but because the goal of this editorial is reflection. Reflection on those we have lost. Reflection on what we have become.
Nine years ago, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jet airliners. Two were intentionally flown into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and the other — on its way to the White House— was heroically crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa. There were no survivors.
According to the U.S. Department of State, nationals of 77 different countries were killed in these terrorist attacks.
The world will never forget this day or the nearly 3,000 people who died. Unfortunately, there are many who use this to their advantage, utilizing 9/11 as a sort of political currency.
In 2008, then-presidential candidate and former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani used the attacks on his city as a crutch for his campaign. Vice President Joe Biden, also a presidential candidate at the time, criticized Giuliani. “There’s only three things he mentions in a sentence — a noun, a verb and 9/11,” Biden said. And, in Nov. 2007, independent campaigners for Giuliani shamelessly asked for donations in the form of $9.11.
Fast-forward three years and a Muslim-built interfaith community center is being protested because of its proximity to the site of the NYC attacks. Critics insist that they are not protesting against freedom of religion but, rather, in the name of 9/11 victims.
These protesters must remember that NYC firefighters and police officers responded on 9/11 to protect the ideals of this country — not to dodge them.
The ninth anniversary of 9/11 was to be met with “International Burn a Koran Day.” Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center planned this event to protest what his church calls a religion of the devil.
The opinion of this editorial is that the anniversary of a politically motivated act of hate should not be remembered with another politically motivated act of hate.
Appropriately, Jones renounced his plan to burn Islam’s sacred text. “We will definitely not burn the Qur’an. … Not today, not ever,” he said.
We are not comparing the actions of Jones to Giuliani’s 2008 campaign or to the protest of the inappropriately labeled “Ground Zero mosque.” However, we insist that all are unacceptable.
Call us naïve or ignorant, but the death of 3,000 people should never be used for political gain.
Let us, this year, remember 9/11 sincerely.
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