It’s been seven years.
On Thursday, Omahans marked the events of Sept. 11 with flags at Memorial Park. Victims from more than 90 countries around the world were remembered. But the impact it has had on the world and Americans has not been fully realized.
“I often recall what a beautiful, serene morning it was that fateful day in New York,” said Jim Spiegel, professor of philosophy and religion at Taylor University in Upland, Ind, and author of “Advocating for the Devil: Hearing Al-Qaeda’s Case Against the United States” in the Journal of Religion and Society, in an e-mail interview.
“We all need to keep in mind that (Thursday) morning could be another one of those days. And this is part of the cruelty of terrorism – it not only kills and maims today but also robs the populace of peace of mind for years following.”
The shattering of the publics’ peace of mind has had an impact on a diverse array of social issues. Terrorism has spawned discrimination, losses of liberty, violence and misunderstanding and has affected American psyche. It is important to note that education, awareness and a desire to learn has also resulted from the attacks.
“Certainly, this mentality of ‘we’ and ‘they,’ and ‘you are either with us or the terrorists’ still exists,” said Naser Alsharif, associate professor in the School of Pharmacy. “There are also a lot of good things that have happened. People have tried to learn more, reach out more. There are also people that are willing to defend Muslims maybe more than before because they came to understand them as their neighbors. In addition, Muslims started to question their role in the global community and to explain their true religion to others.”
Misunderstanding could be the root of some of these problems, serving as a barrier to solving them. The Gallup Center for Muslim studies found that 39 percent of Americans admit to at least some prejudice toward Muslims.
This polarization, which has increased since the attacks, is fueled by the mistaken belief that a majority of Muslims around the world supported the events of Sept. 11.
The center, after polling Muslims in nine countries in 2001 and 10 countries in 2005 and 2006, found that what 48 percent of respondents admired most about Western culture was the “fair political system, respect for human values, liberty and equality.”
Alsharif is a Palestinian Muslim who came to the United States as a student in 1980. He still communicates with his family overseas, and says that, in general, there is a sense of frustration. Alsharif explained that this frustration stems from U.S. foreign policy and the resulting events in Afghanistan, Iraq and the talk surrounding Iran.
It appears that Sept. 11 has increased American’s awareness of foreign relations, making it a key media issue and a central debate in this year’s presidential election.
“Americans are more inclined to prioritize the importance of this [foreign relations], even though there are fundamental differences among us about foreign policy,” said Spiegel. “We may care more, but we don’t agree anymore than we did seven years ago. As for the global informendness of the average American, I’m not sure this has improved too much since 9/11. That’s a difficult thing to gauge.”
Discrimination and violence has also resulted from this misunderstanding. In an effort to solve these problems, basic liberties have been sacrificed.
Fory-five days after the attack, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, ” to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools and for other purposes.”
The law allows the government to access medical records, tax records, information about the books individuals buy or borrow and gives the government the power to enter homes without informing the owner.
“Things are not getting better in terms of our liberties,” Alsharif said. “It’s very unfortunate. Many Muslims and others came to this country because of these issues. Now they are in a country where they value what the country represents and it is happening to them here. It’s something nobody ever imagined could happen in the U.S.”
Still, Alsharif says there is hope because of the nation’s democratic process.
In the same respect, these policies have been enacted to protect American citizens. Spiegler noted that most Americans seemed resigned to the fact that inconveniences, such as safety policies in airports, are now a permanent reality.
“But I’m afraid most of us take for granted our safety and don’t sufficiently appreciate the fact that we have not been attacked since 9/11,” he said. “In the aftermath of the attacks, I don’t think anyone expected seven years without another strike. It’s really amazing when you think about it.”
One outcome of the attacks on Sept. 11, may be the resulting focus on foreign relations and issues. Alsharif says that how we interact with the rest of the world will begin to define us as a nation.
“Are we as a country willing to abide by international law? Are we willing to support the work of the United Nations? Are we willing to reach out to our adversaries? Any movement toward improving that, will be looked at positively,” he said. “It will bring us a lot of the goodwill we had before 9/11.”