My 911 Grief and Some Hard Questions
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2025 Blog #36
September 8, 2025
My 911 Grief and Some Hard Questions
Last week, I visited the September 11th Memorial in lower Manhattan. I was looking for a specific name that was etched in the plague memorializing those who were killed in that awful day. I was looking for the name of a friend who died that day, Michael Anthony Tanner. I knew Mike. No, I did not know him well. We were not best friends. He was a year ahead of me in high school. I knew him even though we were not close. Yet, I knew him, and he was killed by criminal murders on September 11, 2001.
I remember being angry when I first heard of the attacks. I even felt a bit of a rage growing inside me. This was months before I heard that Mike, whom I knew, was murdered in the attacks. I was incredulous. I wondered why a group of people would kill themselves while attacking two buildings full of civilians who represented various cultures, ethnicities and religious groups? How could a group of people be filled with so much hate?
I confess that I have felt hatred at times in my life. I certainly have acted angrily at times and said some stupid things to people. Yet, I cannot comprehend being so enraged that I would kill innocent people who did not harm or offend me in any way and commit suicide in the process. I began to ask myself the hard question, “what would cause such people to hate to this extent?”
Sadly, I did discover some potential answers.
Since World War, the Middle Eastern Arabs have distrusted Western Powers. The allied powers in World War I made a deal with the Arab tribes. In return for the Arabs toppling the Ottoman Empire, which was part of the Axis coalition, the Arabs were promised a big Arab state of their own. The western powers, however, betrayed these Arab allies and instead carved up the area into nations in which the Western powers had influence in various nations. The British occupied Palestine, Syria and Iraq. The French took over North Africa and Lebanon. Is it any wonder that Middle Eastern Arabs feel animosity toward the west?
Following World War II, there was a massive exodus of Jews from Europe into Palestine. I can’t blame the Jews for this. After the horrors of the holocaust, they felt a need to have a homeland where they can live in safety. I believe that we who had turned a blind eye toward Hitler as he rose to power, must certainly guarantee a safe homeland for them. However, should granting the safety of the State of Israel, preclude a safe homeland for Palestinians whose families lived in Palestine for generations. The Palestinians did not decide to let Israelis move into the land that they had occupied for thousands of years. This decision was made by the United Nations, which was seen by Arabs, as being controlled by the western powers who had cheated them after World War I. Now, following World War II, the Arabs perceived that once more the western powers were depriving them of land.
What followed is a cycle of violence that has caused the lives of countless innocent people. The Israelis, for the sake of security, continue to occupy land seized during conflicts. This occupation is in violation of many United Nation’s resolutions. For the sake of security, Palestinians who lived in the occupied areas, are treated harshly and deprived of services that are received by Israeli citizens. Palestinians living in these lands are subject to military courts, not civilian courts. These military courts are much harsher.
Of course, people living in these areas are angry. At times they act out in their rage. This acting out feeds the fears of Israelis and causes them to want even harsher security measures. And the cycle of violence continues. The latest example of this is the dastardly attack on October 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza which has killed thousands of innocent civilians.
We in the west have betrayed the Arabs in the past. Our continued funding of the Israeli war machine is seen as a continuation of that betrayal which took place 100 years ago. Likewise, our continued tolerance of Israeli expansion into Palestinian land, causes new generations of angry and armed people, who become people who threaten the peace and security of Israel. This violence will continue as long as Israel’s behavior is tolerated and funded by western powers.
And so it is that Michael Tanner died as a pawn of global politics that started 100 years ago. Before more innocent people die, maybe it is time that great minds find a way to guarantee the right of Israel to exist in peace and at the same time, find a way to guarantee the rights and dignity of Palestinian citizens.