Twenty years after the Twin Towers attack, survivors, experts and leaders shared their point of view on terrorism

20 years after the Twin Towers attack, DAIA carried out with Infobae and the organization Tuesday’s Children an act in tribute to the victims of terrorism. It was a virtual meeting in which they shared the views of authorities and important leaders of the Jewish community, survivors of the terrorist attack as well as experts and professionals dedicated to the investigation. on terrorism as a global scourge.

The event was attended by the attack survivor David English; The rescuer Ivonne Sanchez; Iliana Guibert, relative of one of the victims; the expert in terrorism and director of the Center for Studies on Hemispheric Security, Terrorism and Financial Crime at the University of Buenos Aires, Juan Felix Marteau; the terrorism expert Rafael Rincon; the president of the DAIA, Jorge Knoblovits and the CEO and founder of Infobae, Daniel Hadad.

After the presentation by moderator Víctor Garelik, Executive Director of DAIA, the meeting began with a reflection on Knoblovits, who stressed the importance of “being a memory saver” as terrorism continues “to hurt the world.”

“The terrorism that struck the United States on September 11, 2001 is the same as in 1992 and 1994 in Buenos Aires. These are the same ones who continued to attack in Madrid, London, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Paris and many other places, ”he said. As Knoblovits explained, terrorism always seeks to kill as many people as possible, which is why it can be said to have “democratized horror”.

“The testimonies of the victims call on us to give a strong message of condemnation without cracks, because terrorism is real, it has not been defeated, and it is still in force”, considered the president of the DAIA.

Then, David EnglishHe recalled how the first moments of panic and bewilderment occurred near the Twin Towers. “This moment changed my life. I felt confusion, fear. I got off on the metro and I will not forget the panic in the street and the silence in the car. No one had found out what happened three meters from their heads, ”said the man currently living in Mendoza, Argentina.

David also reported that he only returned to “Ground Zero” (the place where the towers were) when his son was 8 and started asking him questions about his life story. Based on this experience, also he reflects on the importance of historical memory.

“Without memory, there is no future. You can’t learn from the past if you don’t remember it. And terrorism will never end, it is a characteristic of many human beings to see things in black or white. We must learn to live together by fighting intolerance and ignorance with memory “he explained.

Terrorism expert and director of the Center for Studies on Hemispheric Security, Terrorism and Financial Crime at the University of Buenos Aires, Juan Felix Marteau, approached the phenomenon of terrorism from another angle: its financing.

The professor underlined that if the principal financiers of the terrorist groups remain the States, “which use them for their interests”, them too. they have “established a more pragmatic commitment to international organized crime” which links them to drug trafficking and smuggling.

For his part, the terrorism expert Rafael Rincon, focused on the phenomenon of youth radicalization in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. “The idea that it will be solved by closing the borders is false because many radicalized young people live in these countries,” he added and regretted that “Terrorism has never had such a great communication capacity as it is today.”

Iliana Guibert, recounted the last call she had with her husband Thomas, who was on the 92nd floor of the North Tower when the first plane hit.

“He was able to reach me three minutes before the tower fell. It was a horrible conversation, but to him it was goodbye. The last thing he said to me was “I love you” and take care of our daughter», Remembers Iliana.

For his part, the founder and CEO of Infobae, Daniel Hadad, agreed with Knoblovits warning that “everything seems to indicate that terrorism has not ended”, for which the media have the responsibility to “continue to show it to the world” because one of their functions “is to put light where there is darkness. “

As an example, he noted that the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, responsible for the attacks on the Twin Towers, is a phenomenon that “still exists and surely has a relationship with the Taliban who took control of Afghanistan. in the last hours “. “The subject interests us because anyone can be a victim of terrorism and our obligation is to try to shed light so that these things do not happen again. In Argentina, we still have darkness about two savage attacks like those on the Israeli embassy and AMIA, ”he said.

The DAIA Its mission is to “fight against all expressions of anti-Semitism, discrimination, racism and xenophobia, preserve human rights, promote interreligious dialogue and harmonious coexistence between all citizens, within a framework of respect for differences; as well as denouncing international terrorism, ensuring the security of institutions and members of the Argentine Jewish community ”. For its part, Tuesday children is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide lifelong assistance to families forever affected by terrorism, military conflict or mass violence. As Infobae has established itself as the most widely read Spanish news site in the world.

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