Jerusalem Skyline Lights Up in Memory of 9/11
A new art installation lit up Jerusalem's skies Tuesday evening in a ceremony marking 18 years since the devastating attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
The ceremony held at the KKL-JNF 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem Park presented an art installation called a “Tribute in Light.”
The installation comprises two 300-meter tall illuminated pillars shining from Emek Ha’arazim in the north of the city all the way to the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway.
At the ceremony, jointly held by KKL-JNF and JNF-USA, the beams were lit up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, KKL-JNF Chief Development Officer Ronnie Vinnikov and JNF-USA Chief Israel Officer Eric Michaelson.
The “Tribute in Light” has been held each year in New York in remembrance of the victims of the September 11 attacks, with Israel being the first country to participate in this ceremony outside of the United States.
“Tribute in Light” will continue through the annual 9/11 Memorial Ceremony on Wednesday until the morning of September 12.
MEMRI: Jordanian Journalist: Muslims Are The True Victims Of 9/11 – Since Then, Six Million Muslims Have Been Killed In Wars Against Them Launched By The West
To mark the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, columnist for the Jordanian Al-Dustour daily Ismail Al-Sharif, a previous CEO of the paper, wrote that the Muslims are the real victims of the attacks. Since September 11, 2001, he claimed, "no fewer than six million Muslims" have been killed in direct and indirect crimes and wars launched against Muslims by the West.MEMRI: Al-Qaeda Releases Video Featuring Its Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Urging Mujahideen To Target Israeli, American, European, And Russian Interests Worldwide
He explained that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. and the West needed a new enemy to fight and chose Islam, as they saw it as a threat to Western civilization, and that ever since, and in particular ever since 9/11, the West has provoked wars in various Arab countries – Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and others. It is fanning the flames of these wars to this very day, he added, thus allowing Muslim blood to continue to be shed as they are slaughtered in droves. He urged Muslims to adhere to Islam and to instill its lofty values in their children, because this, he added, is the only way to become stronger and change the situation.
The following are translated excerpts from his column:
"In a few days it will be the 18th anniversary of the events of September 11, [2001], and on television we will see the victims' families shedding tears for their loved ones and hear commentary attempting to prove that this operation was nothing but a big conspiracy. Obviously, the president of the world's most powerful country [the U.S.] will deliver a speech in which he will say: 'These events have made the U.S. stronger.'
"[Meanwhile,] in other parts of the world, mothers will weep for children who died in an attack in the springtime of their lives; people will be arrested for no reason; refugees will be expelled; and people will be tortured. The common denominator of all these people is that they are Muslims – the greatest victims of the September 11 events. We will perhaps debate the question of whether the events were [indeed the result of] a conspiracy, or whether bin Laden planned them in a cave in Afghanistan. In this context, it should be mentioned that the well-known British journalist Robert Fisk wrote in one of his books that he had met with bin Laden in a cave in Afghanistan, and that bin Laden was eager to know what was happening in the world since the [only] source of information he had at the time was a two-month old copy of Newsweek!...
On September 11, 2019, Al-Sahab, the media arm of Al-Qaeda, released a video featuring the group's leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri urging the mujahideen in Palestine and across the Muslim ummah to target Israeli, U.S., European, and Russian interests worldwide.MEMRI: MEMRI TV Clips And Reports From The MEMRI 9/11 Archives Project 2019: Iraqi News Flash: 'Heart Of Evil' Has Been Struck; HTS Official: Post-9/11 Attacks Would Have Brought Down U.S.; Iranian Filmmaker: 9/11 Is A Big Lie, 3,000 Jews Were Warned To Stay Away; Al-Qaeda Urdu Magazine Marks 9/11, Quotes Bin Laden; Pittsburgh Imam: 9/11 Was False Flag Operation
In the video, which was posted on Al-Sahab's official Telegram channel,[1] Al-Zawahiri addressed Muslim scholars, who had condemned Al-Qaeda for killing unarmed civilians and asked them to attack U.S. and European military bases around the world if they want jihad to be only against military targets. Al-Zawahiri also accused Iran of partnering with the U.S. in its wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, and praised the Taliban saying they have drained the U.S. "which sought to negotiate with Taliban to get out of Afghanistan."
The video, which is titled "And they shall continue fighting you" (Quran 2:217), started by condemning the U.S. and accusing it of continuing to be hostile against Islam and Muslims, citing President Trump's decisions to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights as examples.
Al-Zawahiri then claimed that the majority of Zionists throughout history have been non-Jews, saying Napoleon, Balfour, Mark Sykes, President Trump, and thousands of others were "non-Jew Zionists." According to Al-Zawahiri, "these Zionists plot against Muslims everywhere and immigrate to Israel from all over the world; therefore, it is necessary to take the battle to them everywhere."
Encouraging martyrdom-seeking mujahideen to carry out attacks around the world, Al-Zawahiri noted that those who want to wage jihad against Israel can do so anywhere. He said: "After ensuring that his target is permissible in the light of the shari'a, that no harm should occur to Muslims as a result of his actions, and that the benefits of his actions outweigh the costs, all he needs to do is to put his trust in Allah and head for his target after leaving a message that the aim of his jihad operation is avenging the crimes in Palestine and all such Muslim lands."
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has been monitoring, translating, and documenting content about them in Middle East- and South Asia-based media. For the 10th anniversary of 9/11, MEMRI launched its 9/11 Documentation Project, which examines the roots of the ideology that ultimately led to the attacks. It features primary-source material from Arab and Islamic print, broadcast, and online media, and from other sources; together with the archive of MEMRI research from the past two decades, it comprises the most extensive collection of material on this and related subjects in the world.
The MEMRI 9/11 Documentation Project includes MEMRI translations of documents from Al-Qaeda and affiliate organizations, speeches by and interviews with Al-Qaeda and affiliated leaders, wills and statements by the 9/11perpetrators and their colleagues, and Al-Qaeda recruitment and indoctrination materials. It also tracks and documents conspiracy theories from across the Arab and Muslim world denying any Arab responsibility for the attacks and implicating others in them.
Throughout 2019, MEMRI has added new clips and reports to the project website. Among these are an archival clip of a September 11, 2001 Iraq TV news bulletin in which a reporter stated, in a voice-over to footage of the burning World Trade Center and chaos in Manhattan, that the "heart of evil" had been struck; a clip of an official of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) organization stating that additional large-scale attacks in the U.S. after 9/11 would have caused the country's collapse; a clip of an Iranian filmmaker calling 9/11 a "fabricated crime" and reiterating the claim that 3,000 Jews had been warned the previous day to stay away from the area; a report from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor on Al-Qaeda's Urdu-language magazine's commemoration of 9/11; and, from the MEMRI Sermons By Imams In The West project, a report on a Pittsburgh imam who in an audio recording stated that 9/11 – and most other terrorist attacks – were false flag operations.