OP-ED: 9/11 + 25 = AfD
By ALAN SMASON
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by members of Al Queda, the most deadly and most coordinated terrorist attack in our nation’s history. While it’s not necessary to compare numbers, the ignoble number of dead at the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania climbed higher than the previous gold standard for death and destruction: the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor by the nation of Japan.
The 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan (Michael Lee/Getty Images)
Given imperial Japan’s jingoistic intent, it was easy to predict they would see an American naval base as a danger to its militarism.
But 9/11 was different.
Rather than directed at military targets, it was designed as a terrorist action intended to kill and maim a maximum number of civilians. The series of attacks from the air and the conversion of jet aircraft into carriers of death and destruction on 9/11 resonated within the psyche of America. It was an attack on our very safety and security and threatened the grand tradition of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness promised to us in the Declaration of Independence.
It was Al Queda’s deliberate intention to create fear and panic within American society as payback for American hegemony in the Middle East, our status as the leader of the Free World, our multi-faceted religious culture and our support of Israel.
Now, 25 years later, the feeling of unity that surrounded our people as we rose defiantly to answer for the cowardly attacks in New York, Washington and Shanksville has dissipated. Today, Al Queda might well be delighted with the dangerous division we now find within the American two-party system with Democrats ever more aligning themselves with pro-Palestinian rhetoric that glorifies the worst antisemitic tropes and libels against the Jewish people and the Republicans glorifying a war in the Middle East that has dragged on for more than six months with no exit plan in sight.
On the international front, America is not only being attacked for its ongoing support of Israel and its war against Iran but also for its aggressive actions against Venezuela and its bellicose campaign of tariffs. Former steadfast nations like Canada are taking aim at the United States and answering tariffs with tariffs of their own and anti-American rhetoric from European Union allies and the United Kingdom has also noticeably ramped up.
Fascism wearing the cloak of nationalism has also risen up again on the Continent, the proving ground for two previous world wars. Germany, a country formally dedicated to removing the stigma of its responsibility for the Holocaust, has just held elections and the results are troubling.
A far-right political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) garnered almost 45% of the vote in one German province, leaving open the possibility it could form the first far-right party to lead a portion of Germany since the Nazis held sway there. Fueled by anti-immigration policies directed at foreign nationals living in Germany, the election results took the centrist Christian Democrat Party by surprise. Their party – the party of former Prime Minister Angela Merkel –received less than half the number of votes AfD registered at the polls.
While some pundits may spin the election results as anti-Muslim pushback for gains registered by immigrants who have flooded their country, we should not forget that the same kind of rhetoric and actions could be leveled against Jews with uniformity further down the road.
History has shown that fascism thrives in an environment where the people feel hopeless and beset by lack of financial opportunity. Fascists promise a tomorrow where living is better and free of drudgery, but the terrible cost of advancement is borne by the outlier groups they blame for society’s misfortunes. Jews have often been the targeted victims of this blame game, the worst result being the Holocaust.
We must be wary of what is going on in Germany and be vigilant. We were caught off guard 25 years ago but we answered the tragedy with unity. We were not responding as Democrats or Republicans, but instead were unified as Americans. 9/11 forever changed us as a nation. The Holocaust specifically changed us as a people. And now, as we memorialize the victims of the worst attack on America, we must again monitor Germany as a possible new threat in an evermore dangerous world.
