Wiesenthal Center Commemorates 20th Anniversary of 9/11

The Simon Wiesenthal Center hosted a candle-lighting ceremony at the Museum of Tolerance’s Memorial Plaza on September 10 commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham Cooper began by saying that for at least eleven years, the Wiesenthal Center would put tables of candles outside and read the list of the names of the 9/11 victims. Typically, “hundreds of civilians” would stop by and pay their respects. Cooper recalled one year where the Wiesenthal Center put a name next to a candle and a woman was looking for a specific name. When Cooper asked her who she was looking for, the woman said she was a United Airlines flight attendant who was assigned to one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, but she overslept and one of her colleagues took her place, and she was searching for the name of her colleague.

Wiesenthal Center Founder and Dean Rabbi Marvin Hier then spoke, saying: “9/11 will never be forgotten in the annals of world history.  We were all shocked, caught off guard by this brazen attack on freedom and democracy.” Hier recalled how that day he and his wife were on a flight to Israel to celebrate the High Holy days and they didn’t hear about the terror attacks until their plane landed in London. They had wanted to return to Los Angeles, but were told that it would be “impossible” to do so.

The immediate aftermath of the terror attacks spurred conspiracy theories scapegoating the Jews for 9/11, Hier said. “Rumors began circulating all over the world that it was the Jews that brought down the towers.” He added that Jews have similarly been scapegoated for the Spanish Flu, so much so that, in a letter obtained by the Wiesenthal Center,  Adolf Hitler promulgated the conspiracy theory. Hier posited that the antisemites would blame the Jews again if Iran develops nuclear weapons.

‘Wherever hell is, the 9/11 terrorists and all those that follow in their path are in first class. Believe it.’ —Rabbi Martin Hier

He concluded his remarks by noting that 9/11 revealed America’s “resolve” and that al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden did not know at the time that he had awakened the “sleeping giant.” “Wherever hell is, the 9/11 terrorists and all those that follow in their path are in first class. Believe it.”

Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz then spoke, comparing the “hate and contempt” of the 9/11 terrorists against America and the country’s ideals to the same “hate and contempt the Nazis held against the Jews … Both aimed to destroy and to instill fear. And both failed.” 

He also paid homage to the first responders. “Thank you for your commitment to the people, thank you for your service, thank you for your unwavering willingness to run into danger rather than away from it. You continue to be our heroes.”

Cooper announced that the Wiesenthal Center released a report documenting the various 9/11 conspiracy theories on the Internet. The report states that al-Qaeda glorifies 9/11 as pushback to “US oppression of Muslim countries.” Cooper said that the onus is on social media companies to ensure that “the historic truth is not buried with the remnants of the thousands of innocent victims of 9/11.”

Los Angeles Muslim leader Mohamed Khan sang a prayer for the victims, as did Cooper. Others in attendance included Santa Monica Fire Department  Interim Chief Wolfgang Knabe, Los Angeles Police Department Commander Ruby Flores and Inglewood Police Department Chief Mark Fronterotta.