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I have been looking through my regular reads of women bloggers in the Middle East lately to see whether, to what extent, and how the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were noted or observed. I haven't seen much.
Several of my English-language favorites in the neighborhood are up to date on their blogs, and generally can be counted on for insight into the world's machinations – but, for whatever reason, chose to remain silent on that infamous day. These include Freedom, Bayehha, and the Egyptian Chronicles (from Egypt); Cinnamon Zone and Natasha (from Jordan); Lisa Goldman (from Israel); Nana and Laila (from Lebanon); Sara (Syria/UAE); and Mother under Occupation (from Gaza).
But you know something? On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, I didn’t have anything to say on my own blog either. The day I could find no words, I was in good company.
Yet there are those in this region who dared to frame the day with their thoughts.
Leilouta, a Tunisian based in the U.S., posted a picture of the empty space where the Twin Towers once stood and said the following:
This occasion always brings out the BUT people:
...but they deserved it...
...but they caused it with their...
...but the Palestinians are still suffering...
...but, but, but
But maybe the “BUT†people should be silent for one day.
The Moorish Girl, also based in the U.S., said this:
On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, as we remember the 3,000 American people who lost their lives, let us also remember that Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar have still not been captured, that the recommendations of the 9/11 commission have still not been implemented fully, that this nation continues to live under an "elevated" threat level, and that between 62,000 and 180,000 Iraqi people have died as a direct result of these attacks, for no reason other than that they were were nationals of a country that President Bush tried to tie to Al-Qa'ida, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And little appears to have changed on the Bush agenda; indeed, we have this very telling quote from our fearless leader: "One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq with the war on terror."
Hope, an Egyptian based in Kuwait, had this to say:
Today is the fifth anniversary of a tragedy that has changed the world. It is as if an evil power was set free that day, causing the world to be surrounded by negative energy. Violence begets violence. And we are still in the vicious circle that was triggered 5 years ago today. It is sad. But it seems that whoever planned this has so far achieved the terrible goal of dividing the world, and deepening the chasm between the West and Muslims. We are currently in a lose-lose situation. And things are not getting any better.
From Baghdad, the Neurotic Iraqi Wife spoke directly of the death in the World Trade Center of 30-year-old Kristen Irvine-Ryan, and included this:
Kristin, I write to you and my heart is filled with sadness and anger...I write to you in hope that you can hear me...hear my cries, hear my pain... I write to you and my heart is clenched... The images of those towers...Those mighty towers, a sign of power...a sign of no fear, crumbling into dust... That day I was sitting at my office in London, watching in horror the events that took place... Watching and my tears never stopped flowing... The images of people having to choose between choking to death, or falling to their deaths... I always wandered, everyday ever since that day how did people feel...What was going inside their minds... What was their last thoughts...What was your last thought Kristin... What was your last words??? I will never know...
I come from a religeon that respects life... Theres a saying in Quran, One who kills an innocent life is like killing a whole nation... Those who did this act are nothing but sinners... They will go to hell and you mark my words... Islam does not believe in them, for they interpret God's words to serve their own agenda, their own evil hunger... I am a Muslim, yet I cried for you, I cried for all of you... I am a Muslim and I condemned these heinous acts... I am a Muslim, yet those who committed these crimes are no brothers of mine...Kristin, your memory will go
