Dear John,

As we mark the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, we remember the 2,977 people who perished in New York, Washington and Shanksville, PA. So many of us lost family and friends, classmates and colleagues, neighbors and loved ones.

The scale of the 9/11 tragedy was unprecedented, but the courage displayed by the first responders, including the 412 who died that day, was not. Then and now, first responders rescue, revive, comfort and protect people they don’t know. I hope you will find solace as well as an inspiration to be better within these words from my ADL colleague Greg Ehrie. He is now our Vice President of Law Enforcement & Security, but on that bleak day twenty years ago, he was a first responder at Ground Zero.

My memories are as vivid today as they were then: The sights, smell, and sounds remain impossible to describe. For years, the unspoken and inexplicable rule amongst my colleagues was that you did not talk about 9/11. Years later, as many of us became sick, we started to share our memories, most often about the acts of humanity we had seen.

At a moment when the country should have been on its knees, we recalled acts of unbelievable strength and compassion. Ordinary citizens side by side with cops and firemen, digging through the rubble, frantically searching for survivors. Business owners throwing open their doors and handing out supplies. Small private boats crossing the Hudson River from New Jersey to help evacuate people trapped in Lower Manhattan.

An act planned by a small group of extremists and designed to rip our country apart had the opposite effect. America demonstrated its best self; we displayed our capacity for courage and compassion with one another.

You can read the rest of Greg’s moving words here.

The consequences of that fateful day continue to be felt by us as individuals, as a nation and around the world.

In the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on this country, conspiracy theorists crafted alternative narratives. Some of these conspiratorial claims directly implicated Jewish people and Israel in the attacks. We continue to monitor the antisemitic 9/11 conspiracy theories that keep spreading, and a new generation of antisemites that are influenced by them.

I also encourage you to read about the uneven progress of education reform in the Arab world since 9/11, as we work with Arab activists and leaders and across the international community to find a roadmap to address the content that contributes to hate so we can reduce the threat of additional violence.

Additionally, as we take time during this Jewish season for repentance and renewal, I have publicly apologized on behalf of ADL for our decision after 9/11 to oppose plans for an Islamic center dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque” that could have been a hub for interfaith dialogue and peace. The need for healing remains, and I hope we can right this wrong and be strong allies in fighting today’s wave of hatred, including Islamophobia.

As we reflect on this milestone anniversary and honor those who perished and those who continue to succumb to the aftereffects of that tragic day, all of us continue to owe the selfless individuals who responded with such bravery and compassion a debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

On this somber anniversary, they remain in our thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Greenblatt

CEO and National Director

ADL