Nine-eleven, how odd...

The fall semester was about to start. I was at the University student lounge finishing up the yearbook with a few friends. Then, something happened.

Electricity went out! Now, that doesn’t really need an exclamation mark if you’re living in Lebanon. Never mind, I digress. So, when the electricity was back on, someone suggested we turn on the TV. At first, we all thought it was a trailer for Arnie’s new movie.  After switching to more than one channel, we deduced that this is either one of the most expensive marketing campaigns ever made for a movie, or what was being televised was for real! It was unfathomable, it was colossal, it was intense, and it was shocking; it was shocking that to all of those in the room it was not tragic. That is an indictment of the human mind, more so of the human spirit. There is nothing one can say that can justify that, but let us see if we can explain the reasons behind such apathy.

First, to all of us who dislike capitalism, we were happy that one of its most prominent icons was being destroyed. Second, on a childish level, everybody hates bullies. So, we were all content that Karma has finally taken effect on the ‘cocky bully of the world’.  It was arbitrary happiness, the result of what we saw as an arbitrary attack on an American capitalistic symbol. This was about to change. As our initial smiles subsided, the fire in the towers increased. The camera zoomed in. We saw what appeared to be a five-edged star jump off a window and bounce on the walls of the tower before plummeting to the concrete! It was a human being…  We were shocked. We were no longer smiling. We began to imagine how terrible it must have been for that person in the tower that he had to leap to his demise. It took such a powerful image to bring us back to our humanity, which is to say to our senses. We finally understood the tragedy that was happening in front of our eyes. We, the victims and the viewers, became one again. Self-reproach was apparent in our thoughtful glances at each other. We were happy because abstract America was being hit – America, the capitalism; America, the foreign policy; America, the… The minute we realized human beings were disastrously dying, it stopped being conceptual; it stopped being about conflicting ideologies and economical systems. It became agonizing.

The second gunman on the grassy knoll

Looking back at that day, what makes it more tragic are the conspiracies that have spun around it. Whether the conspiracies are true or not, it must be very cruel for the family and friends of the victims to hear about it. That is why I think twice before I tackle this very sensitive topic. They deserve closure. However, closure comes through a solid story of what happened. An apparition of JFK seems to manifest itself every time I think about nine-eleven. The way the commission handled the investigation was, in a disquiet manner, similar to the way the commission then, handled Kennedy’s assassination: with oil-anointed hands! The world, and the victims’ family and friends, deserve to know the truth about what happened; there has been countless suffering because of and since that day. A transparent and systematic investigation must be done, if for no other reason than to appease the anguish of those who have been directly, and indirectly, afflicted. The question remains, as it does for JFK, will it be done?

The expression nine-eleven has become as recognizable as the 7-eleven, 24/7 & nine-to-five. It is the day that the world trade center went down. When it was happening, everybody knew that, for better or for worse, things are going to be different.  Eleven years have passed; it is logically and statistically safe to say that it was for the worse. Our hope, on this very tragic anniversary, that another number will become as identifiable as the aforementioned – a number that will mark the beginning of worldwide affirmative action: against hunger, global warming, illiteracy… Here’s to one-two-three... start