At Jerusalem memorial, US envoy marks 17 years since 9/11
Embassy ceremony moved up in order not to clash with next week’s Rosh Hashanah holiday
The US Embassy, victims’ families, diplomats, and officials from the Jewish National Fund held a ceremony Thursday at the 9/11 memorial in Jerusalem to mark the upcoming 17th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks that claimed the lives of 2,977 innocent people.
The ceremony was held early this year because September 11 coincides with the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday, which would have precluded the participation of many Israelis and Jewish visitors.
The ceremony was attended by delegations that included Israeli families of victims who perished in the attacks, United Airlines pilots — two of the four planes hijacked in the attack belonged to the airline — and first responders and diplomats.
The 9/11 Living Memorial is part of Jerusalem Park in the south of the capital. It was established by KKL-JNF and an American affiliate, JNF-USA, in 2009, and includes at its center a 30-foot bronze sculpture of an American flag shaped like a memorial flame, with a metal piece left from the destroyed Twin Towers in New York as part of its base.
Because Rosh Hashanah falls this year on 9/11, we remembered the victims today at Israel’s magnificent 9/11 Memorial in Jerusalem. We mourned those who lost their lives, hailed the courage of first responders and committed to always protecting our freedom. pic.twitter.com/UqvMrqhPLc
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael) September 6, 2018
The Jerusalem memorial “is the only one outside of the United States to include all the names of the 9/11 victims,” a JNF press release said Thursday.
The release quotes Ambassador David Friedman saying, “In this beautiful plaza, at this inspiring location, we remind the families of those lost and we confirm to people everywhere, that we stand together – Americans and Israelis – and that together we continue to heal and to build, in a spirit of solidarity and commitment to the future.”
