Issues

9-11 Aftermath

9/11: Five Years Later

Posted on Monday September 11, 2006

As our nation commemorates the fifth anniversary of the tragic terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Arab American community remains steadfast in defense of our country and our values.

In the days and weeks after 9/11, we joined with our fellow Americans to help those affected by the tragic events, to ensure that there is a healing and to guard against the inevitable misdirected backlash that materialized. In the years since, our community has remained engaged, not only in protecting our homeland but also in striving to make sure that the ideals the terrorists sought to destroy are not undermined in our efforts to protect our country.

Along with so many others, Arab Americans died on 9/11/2001. We worked in those buildings and we were among the doctors, policemen, firemen and emergency workers who bravely served and perished in trying to save others at Ground Zero. We have and continue to be active in the safeguarding of our nation, whether it is by lending our cultural and linguistic skills to national law enforcement agencies or by being deployed to faraway lands.

Five years on, our community continues to grieve for those who lost their lives on that terrible day. As Americans, we will continue to uphold the values and freedoms that have historically defined our country, we will continue to be active in our nation’s protection, and we will continue to be a strong voice urging our political leaders to find the delicate balance between the need to defend ourselves with the requirement to protect the rights and freedoms we all hold dear.

Just as we have raised issue with some national security practices instituted which we feel have compromised our constitutional rights, we have also at times been critical of foreign policy initiatives taken which we argue have not made us safer, but instead put us at greater risk. Because we value our country and the ideals it represents, we will continue to insist on domestic and foreign policies that reflect those national ideals.

Five Years Later: I’m Still Angry
Washington Watch, by James Zogby, September 11, 2006

“Healing the Nation: The Arab American Experience After September 11” AAI’s first-anniversary report. (PDF)