Sept. 11, 2001, marked the start of a new era for Americans and many people around the world.
The terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, which struck the World Trade Center and Pentagon, brought heightened awareness in Western countries to the threat posed by Islamist extremism and sparked the George W. Bush administration’s “war on terror,” including costly conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East and new systems of widespread government surveillance.
We asked readers of The Washington Post to share the ways in which 9/11 changed their views of the world. We received responses from readers in a variety of countries, most in the West.
Some described encountering discrimination based on their religion. Some wrote of increased global attention on Islam, while others recounted feeling a newfound sense of vulnerability to attack. Many criticized the United States’ militarized response.
Here is what some of our readers had to say:
A new xenophobia
Iman Abid-Thompson, 29, Rochester, N.Y.
“It created a world where I was so afraid to identify as a Muslim, as the rise of the police state and Islamophobia increased exponentially in just days after the attack. There was no room or place to feel comfortable in publicizing my faith, or even in walking around in a grocery store with my mama, who wears hijab. As I got older and began to investigate the effects of 9/11 in our everyday lives, I could see just how we were wrapped up in such an invasive surveillance state that could at any point flag me as a terrorist for wanting to say ‘Allahu akbar, God is the greatest.’ To this day, I don’t feel safe.”
Navinderdeep Nijher, 49, Ocala, Fla.
“As a medical doctor, I spent 48 hours as a first responder, providing emergency medical care at Ground Zero. The next day, I experienced almost immediate suspicion and fear because of my turban and beard — and I realized that most Americans didn’t know who I, as an observant Sikh, was.”
Richard Dooley, 69, Cologne, Germany
“I don’t think any of us who were in Lower Manhattan that morning will ever look at a clear September sky the same way again. Nor, for that matter, will those alive anywhere in the world that day ever forget what happened. The world changed: the awareness of Islam, its people, its culture, its issues moved front and center in our daily lives and have remained there to this day. Fear of those who do not look or sound like us is now commonplace. Who among us enters a train or a plane today, and does not think — if even for a split-second — that the stranger across from us might be preparing to do us ill?”
Islam under scrutiny
Mussab Ali, 24, Jersey City
“I’m from Jersey City, a town where President Donald Trump said there were ‘thousands’ of Muslims celebrating on rooftops during 9/11. Not only could this not be further from the truth, but the damage my community suffered because of 9/11 and its aftermath cannot be understated. As a community, we went into hiding as our religion became a topic for debate. As a child, I remember being ridiculed because of my name and religion. Overnight, Islam went from an enigma to a threat. It was because of the rhetoric around 9/11 and its flames being stroked by Trump’s presidency that I decided to run for office in Jersey City, becoming the first Muslim elected official in its history. 9/11 changed my life forever. I just hope that when people remember this day and all the lives that were lost, they also recognize that the enemy is not Islam or Muslims, and that we are just as afraid of radical extremists as the rest of the world.”
Jitsiree T., 38, Thailand
“If anything, what I learned after that attack was how a group of deranged terrorists changed the world’s perception on Islam. The religion was branded negatively throughout history, of course, but I still do believe that Islam as a religion, a civilization and a way of life gives to the world more than it takes. I was raised with a Buddhist upbringing and Muslims are a minority in my country, but that doesn’t mean that I have to disrespect Islam just because a few people claimed to commit crimes in its name. I think this is very important for peace, to learn to respect others and to stand in solidarity with all the persecuted communities: Palestinians, Jews, Rohingya, Uyghurs, etc.”
Milad Odabaei, 39, New York
“Perhaps the experience of 9/11 in the United States led me to the idea that the powerful get to be ignorant and reckless. They can simply impose their interpretation on a happening or choose to ignore it in their solipsistic self-fashioning. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11 nothing crystallizes this lesson better than the poorly planned withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan and resurgence of Taliban to power there. Afghanistan — and much of the Islamic Middle East — is in the throes of death and destruction. From Beirut to Cairo to Tehran and Kabul, there is little political hope. The reasons for this are complex and varied. But they are also intimately related to how Americans came to define and debate “9/11,” “Islam,” and “the Middle East” for the 21st century in and beyond America.”
Realizations of vulnerability
Athanasios Argyriou, 60, Patras, Greece
“I realized that no one and nowhere is protected from terrorism and that Western liberal values are under constant attack by totalitarian regimes and their fanatic followers, for whom human life is of zero value. These regimes are financed by shadow sources, so liberal democracies need to better control the distribution of wealth they produce by increasing the transparency of worldwide transactions and arms production.”
Dorothy Lau, 52, Hong Kong
“The execution of the attack revealed the vulnerability of developed nations. The response of the United States pivoted my impression of the nation, from the now-infamous moment of Gen. (Colin) Powell’s “evidence” of weapons of mass destruction, to the present-day abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. I am starting to question whether a superpower like the United States should be policing and dictating global orders while the other G-7 nations stand in supporting roles. We need a more collaborative world order and to be inclusive of different nations’ points of view. Media also plays a vital role in shaping opinion.”
William Cullen, 71, Stroudsburg, P.A.
“A few weeks before the attack, I was at an air show watching the Blue Angels perform and hoping this is the future of the U.S. military: to demonstrate our military power but not have to use it. Envisioning a Pax Americana. Boy, was I wrong. Now I see the world as a place where I have to be ever vigilant.”
Questioning American foreign policy
Jean Runge, 69, Emporia, Kan.
“My son was a senior in high school. He and his friends were discussing joining the Marines as they were sure we were going to answer with war. One stated it would all be over by Christmas. I remembered all the wars where that promise was made. I immediately put out my American flag on the porch.”
Jack Cooper, 77, Eugene, Ore.
“Sept. 11, 2001 confirmed for me what most of us knew at some level about our country and its leaders, with few exceptions. Bias against Muslims, reckless pursuit of oil, military support for U.S.-friendly dictators, out-of-control arms sales, and all the subversions, espionage, backroom deals, corruption and propaganda that go with that agenda. What changed for me after al-Qaeda brought down the World Trade Center was realizing 1) how vulnerable we had left ourselves, how complacent we had become, when we should have known we’d have to pay the price someday for our self-serving attitudes and policies, and 2) how little we were willing to give up and learn as a result of it. Blowback came in a big way, and for a short time we enjoyed world sympathy and support. We could have used that moment for reconciliation and understanding. We could have refocused our efforts to promote cooperation and peace throughout the region and the world. But we squandered it in retribution, violence, and continued recklessness driven by collective denial, corporate greed, institutionalized prejudice and the lust for power.”
Gerard Espiritu, 47, Philippines
“I used to view the United States as the unshakable bulwark of democracy we could rely on, but the aftermath of the September attacks revealed that this perception was flawed when [the United States] attacked Iraq and the Saddam Hussein government as an excuse to display U.S. military might, and this nonsensical knee-jerk reaction has made the world less safe due to the inevitable rise of radicalism and terrorism which continue to plague us to this day.”
Gundega Korsts, 76, Madison, Wis.
“It was my view of America that changed. I expected Americans to let go of self-deception (which is hard work!), of that exceptionalism that thinks terrorism happens only somewhere else. I thought we would all be relieved: ‘Ah, at last! Now we don’t have to pretend any more that we aren’t vulnerable.’ Of course, I grieved, but was truly surprised by the surge of fear all around me. I’m a naturalized citizen, a refugee raised on family stories of survival (and loss), caught between Hitler and Stalin. I understand grief and suffering and endurance. Sadly, America turned out to be a place that values fear over honesty, self-importance over humanity, vengeance over prudence, loudness over listening. A country and people still worth loving, but harder to respect.”
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