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Show A Nobel Peace Prize-winner reflects on the tragic events ofSeptember Il and our response as a nation. WE CHOOSE BY EL IE WIESEL ONE OF US WILL EVER FORGET Would this terrible actdrive us apart, T asked myself, or Taw us together? that sunny day in September whenthe United States was subjected to a manmade nightmare:a heinous terror attack unprecedented in contemporary history. It will remain shrouded in mourning in the violated memory ofour country. Would this terrible act drive us apart, Tasked myself, or draw ustogetheras anation? Mywife and I werein a taxi in midtown Manhattan. We looked with disbeliefat the gigantic clouds of smoke and ashes hanging overthe lower part ofthe city, We listened to the radio and couldn’t understand what weheard. Suddenly our hearts sank: Someone we love worked on Wall Street. Cell phones remained mute. At home, we found a message: He was allright. Glued totelevisionlike so many others, we watched the first pictures. They were both surreal and biblical: the flames, the vertical collapse and disappearance Ofthe world’s two proudest towers. Many of us were stunned intosilence, Rarely have I felt such failure oflanguage. I rememberwhat I was thinking: “That's madness, madness,” Two banal words,like an accursed mantra. Sheer madness. Terrorists wanted to die in order to spread death around them. They demanded neither ransom nor concessions. They proclaimed no. belief and left no testament. Butthen whatdid they wishto affirm, negate or prove? Simplythat life is not worth living? Some observers insisted that they were “courageous,” since they wanted to die. I disagree: They, wanted to kill and to do so anonymously, It would COVER PHOTO BY KATHLEEN BROWN/CORBIS: PAGE 4 - OCTOBER 28, 2001 - PARADE MAGAZING |
