The main ceremony for the September 11, 2001 attacks, on such a significant date as the 25th anniversary of the greatest attack the United States has suffered on its territory since the 19th century, was marked by political division due to the absence of President Donald Trump in New York. He was the only one missing from a rite in which reproaches were heard regarding his administration for not revealing Saudi Arabia’s involvement.
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But there was no scandal when Zohran Mandani accessed the Lower Manhattan memorial, arriving on this date as the city’s first Muslim mayor and having suffered an Islamophobia campaign with pressure not to attend. There was no record of any family members making a public condemnation during the tribute.
It was symbolic of that recovered spirit of unity to observe the handshake and exchange of greetings between Mandani and Rudy Giuliani, who earned the nickname “America’s mayor” for his prominence that day and who, 25 years later, has become the main spokesperson for those who demanded that the current holder of the metropolis’ baton not participate in this ceremony and who even, with falsehoods, seemed to link him to Al Qaeda terrorists.
The official death toll of that tragedy was set at 2,977 across the three sites: New York, the Pentagon (Virginia), and Shanksville (Pennsylvania), where the fourth plane crashed, supposedly headed for the White House or Congress.
There is no doubt, however, that the most symbolic place of those attacks was focused on Lower Manhattan, where 2,753 people died after planes crashed into the Twin Towers, a symbol of capitalism, which collapsed shortly thereafter. Additionally, this year also paid tribute to the thousands of deaths, numbering nearly 10,000, recorded from that date until now due to illnesses caused by the toxicity left in the air by the destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC).
That is where the grand tribute is held. Four former presidents attended: Republican George Bush, president on that terrible day, and Democrats Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. All with their respective wives. In this list, there is one more striking absence, that of the current U.S. president, the only one born in this city, where he was forged as a real estate developer and who recently claimed he was rescued that day, although it is known that he was in his Fifth Avenue skyscraper and did not set foot there until several days later.
Trump preferred to go to the Pentagon, where he drew on a bellicose spirit to defend the highly unpopular war with Iran. In reality, his intention was to be at what was Ground Zero. He changed his mind upon learning he would not be allowed to give a speech, which he did deliver at the Pentagon.
The tradition establishes that the spotlight, as Mandani rightly recalled, belongs to the survivors and the families of the deceased. Since 2012, politicians are not allowed to speak. In fact, on the tenth anniversary in 2011, Obama, then president, and Bush spoke, but limited themselves to reading biblical passages. No political references. The former presidents sent messages of unity and peace on their social networks this Friday but attended the event in the Big Apple with a respectful tone, in total silence.
The event once again consisted of reading every single name of the deceased, including those from the 1993 attack in the North Tower parking garage, which resulted in six fatalities.
Family members and friends performed the reading as always, increasingly featuring people who were not born that day and who are children, grandchildren, or nephews of the missing.
The names of the 9/11 victims were read starting from the letter B. Generally, these family members conclude with a reference to the person they honor. Usually, it is a remembrance, but there are exceptions. And there were.
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The tribute began with the bell that at 8:46 marked the impact of the first plane on the North Tower of the WTC. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 as the reading began.
One of the widows, Terry Strada, took the opportunity to deliver a passionate speech, with clear criticism of Trump, in which she condemned several administrations for continuing to collaborate with Saudi Arabia in the years since 9/11. The families have tried to hold the Saudi kingdom accountable in federal courts.
“It has been one betrayal after another,” she said. She urged the elected officials gathered there to “stand with the survivors, stand with the Americans.” She referred to Vice President JD Vance, one of the attendees, “to deliver this message to the current president.” Trump and his family have close ties and business with the Saudi royal family.
She was not the only voice in that call for justice. A nephew of Lisa Marie Terry, vice president of Marsh & McLennan who died in the attacks, also gave a brief political speech. “For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day. President Trump, you are our last hope. Release the unredacted documents implicating Saudi Arabia, while the surviving family members can still see them,” he pleaded.
To the six traditional moments of silence (the impact of the four planes and the collapse of the towers), a seventh was added this time for those who died from illness in the following years, a tragedy that continues to add obituaries. It is estimated that, in addition to those nearly 10,000 deaths, about 150,000 people were exposed to poor air quality. That minute of silence took place after four hours of reading, at 12:52, and after the plea of an orphan, Michael Massaroli Jr., who asked that “this tragedy not be used to spread hate,” because “in these 25 years I have seen people use hate against Muslims or those who do not look like them.” He closed the ceremony.
“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them it was safe to breathe toxic air,” Mandani said last Tuesday when revealing 170,000 documents that were hidden about that poisoned air.
Behind that recognition is John Feal, who had a demolition company in Long Island. As soon as he heard about the WTC attack, he sent his 250 workers home and headed to the place of horror himself. He worked tirelessly from that very night. Five days later, he was hit by a heavy steel beam. It became gangrenous and they had to partially amputate his left foot. He has not worked since but has not stopped fighting for those who risked their lives to help.
“I defend those who got sick because of 9/11. For 20 years I walked the halls of Congress to get laws passed for those who got sick from 9/11. Since I suffered my injury, since I learned to walk again, and in everything I do, I have helped pass 20 legislative initiatives,” he explains.
The documents revealed by Mandani did not surprise him. “A few days after 9/11 we already knew we were going to get sick. Months after 9/11, we knew people were getting sick. Years after 9/11, we knew 9/11 and the toxins had killed men and women. And for years they told us we were making it up, until science proved us right and confirmed the validity of our claims,” he emphasizes.
Undoubtedly, one of the most emotional moments of the ceremony occurred when the reading stopped between 9:59 (collapse of the South Tower) and 10:03 (disappearance of the North Tower) and in a striking silence, Yo-Yo Ma emulated Pau Casals at the UN by performing El cant dels ocells.
