The city of New York began this Saturday (11.09.2021) the acts of commemoration of the attacks of September 11 with a solemn ceremony in the place where the Twin Towers were, which was attended by some of the relatives of the nearly three thousand fatalities, as well as the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
On a sunny morning, like the one on September 11, 2001, the ceremony began with the parade of emergency services representatives carrying an American flag, after which the Young People’s Chorus of New York sang the national anthem.
After a moment of silence at 08.46 local time (14.46 CET), when the first plane hit one of the towers, Mike Low, father of one of the flight attendants flying in it, gave a short speech, which marked the beginning of the reading of the names of the victims. “As we recite the names of those we lost, our memory goes back to that terrible day, when we felt that an evil specter had descended upon the world, but it was also a time when many people acted beyond the ordinary,” Low said.
Despite the fact that hundreds of relatives were present at the ceremony, which showed photos of their loved ones, some of the relatives of the victims could not access the event, in which there were strong security measures. At the ceremony, in which singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen performed his song “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” the moments in which three of the planes that were hijacked on September 11 hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and a fourth fell on an esplanade in Pennsylvania, were marked with moments of silence.
Words of encouragement from Europe
Words of remembrance also came from the rest of the world for the attacks of 11 September 2001. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled the “terrifying images” of the attack on the World Trade Center: “We knew then that we had to defend ourselves together, in NATO, against these terrorist dangers. We also show this solidarity with Afghanistan,” he said. He acknowledged, however, that “although we have been able to defeat terrorism, which endangers our security, at this time we have not achieved all our objectives.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also paid tribute to the victims of the attacks. “On September 11, we remember those who lost their lives and honor those who risked everything to help them. Even in the darkest and most difficult moments, the best of human nature can shine. The European Union stands with the United States in defending freedom and compassion against hate,” he tweeted.
Also critical, inside and outside the United States
Many other countries also remembered the attack and the victims. In Iran, however, several newspapers criticized U.S. military interventions in response to those September 11 attacks. In an editorial published under the title “The Beginning of America’s End,” Hamshahri (the newspaper of Tehran’s ultra-conservative municipality), wrote that Washington followed “a wrong path.” “The U.S. mispersusion was to have believed that it could fight this new enemy (Al Qaeda) with weapons and military operations, while this terrorist nebula benefited from a favorable intellectual, social and economic breeding ground in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, such as Jabat al Nusra.”
Critical voices also came from the United States. Former President Donald Trump took the opportunity to criticize in a video the “inept administration” of Joe Biden for its “incompetence” in the withdrawal from Afghanistan. “This is a very sad day,” the former president said, adding that September 11 “represents great pain” for the country. “It’s also a sad time for the way our war against those who did so much damage to our country ended last week,” he continued. He blamed “poor planning, incredible weakness and leaders who didn’t really understand what was going on.”
In a video released the day before, Biden called on Americans to be united. “For me it is the main lesson of September 11. At the moment of greatest vulnerability, (…) unity is our greatest strength,” the current president declared in his message.
