Did Israel Cause the Events of September 11?

I will never forget the strange mix of terror and happiness in my fathers voice the afternoon of September 11, 2001. Knowing his proximity to the World Trade Center(3 blocks), and seeing the terrifying images of the attack on the television screen, I rushed to a phone after class and tried desperately to make contact. The moments that followed seemed like forever. Because of the tie-up in the phone lines, it took about 15 minutes to get through to New York. When I finally did get through, I was relieved to hear his familiar voice. He seemed to feel lucky that he had been fortunate enough to make it out of the terror alive. At the same time, he talked about the difficulty he was already having in getting the horrific events he had witnessed out of his mind. He recounted seeing both Towers fall and the searing images of groups of human beings jumping out of burning buildings hand in hand. Those indelible images will surely stay with him and with us for a lifetime.

This story illustrates just how personally the catastrophe has hit home for me. As an American, I believe it has changed the course of our lives, and there are several ways I see America going from here. Many individuals have called for peace, while others for an all out retaliatory strike. I don’t think the question is that simple. It is now up to our leaders to make these difficult choices which may change our way of life as we know it, and we are going to have to make some strong decisions as citizens in order to let them know what we believe needs to get done.

I think we have to acknowledge that this event was not an isolated incident. It has made a direct impact on the way each and every American born in this era will live their life. I will never again feel safe while riding in an airplane and that prospect frightens me. If we are no longer safe to do the simple things such as take a trip or go to a ballgame, how can we feel that we are free? In the end, the point of all this seems not only to be an attack on our country, but rather an attack on our freedom.