Daniel Lewin - First victim of 9/11

I wrote a little earlier about Daniel Lewin as a side note. I feel he deserves a full post.

Born in the US, he encouraged his family to make Aliyah while he was still at school. After a brilliant IDF service, followed by studies at some of the most prestigious institutes on the planet, Daniel founded akamai, an Internet content delivery network and worked in the US.
He was aboard Flight 11, the first of the hijacked flight to come to attention. Daniel Lewin was on board that flight, in business class. As the hijacking started to take place, Daniel's Sayeret Matkal instincts came into action. Unfortunately, he probably didn't imagine that there were more than a couple terrorists on board, let alone five. One of the terrorists was sitting behind him and stabbed him. He was the first to stand up and fight terror, and was also its first victim.
How symbolic that in what was to become the worlds largest terror attack, the first to fight would be the Israeli.

(if the video about Daniel doesn't work on your browser - you can see it here)

A reminder that Israel is always in the front line in the war on terror. But what gets past the Israeli defense will indubitably end up barging through the front door of the rest of the civilized world.

11 September 2001 - where were you?

It's almost funny how some things haven't changed since that Tuesday morning 10 years ago. Headlines still talk about US Open results and the latest politician sex scandals. Except that today's headlines will be overshadowed by 9/11 stories: What happened, what changed, what will happen, new Al Qaeda threats, analysis about what should have been done, what could have been done, where did we go wrong...

Where were you and what were you doing when you heard about it all? Did you see it unfold live? What where your first thoughts?

We had recently landed in Rome, and after a smooth taxi ride we got into our hotel room. We turned on the TV and started channel surfing. I called my grandmother to let her know I landed safely. My grandma asked me if I had seen New York and the plane and all that. I gently reminded her that I was in Rome, not New York. "No, no, on the television". Just then, the channel surfing showed images of one of the two trade towers with black smoke and flames coming out of it. Funny, I thought, they're showing the same movie here. It took me a few seconds to realize that it wasn't a movie. I told her I'd call her back, and sat on the bed, hypnotised by the screen. It was a little before 3 PM in Rome.

As we watched the images, the black thick smoke coming out, we listened to the narrator explaining that there's more and more fire, I try to comprehend how many people are stuck there.

Then, a black silhouette of a plane charges right at the fire. Everything happened so fast, an explosion, the narrator stopped mid-sentence to find his words which sound something like "Oh my god... a second plane". 3:03 PM. This is now officially no longer an accident.

You couldn't ply me away from that television with a crowbar. I remember saying "If this turns out to be Palestinians, that's it for them, they'll never get anything now". I couldn't be further from the truth. I didn't feel the time go by, just watching those images, and CNN showing again and again the plane that flew into the second tower. Then they start talking about the Pentagon. What? A plane flew into the Pentagon? Total mayhem. Every channel is contradicting everyone else and even itself. A plane! A missile! An explosion! What?

Images, horrible images on television. People jumping from unimaginable heights. Theories already running rampant all over the place. Then that second tower to be hit starts cascading down on itself. Papers flying everywhere. In a matter of seconds, a whole building is gone. Inconceivable.

Reports of a fourth plane, brought down in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. How many more planes are there? The first tower to be hit goes down as well, people on the streets are covered with thick grey dust, running in every which direction. Both buildings completely gone. Where do you even begin with the recovery efforts? How do you assist in a disaster of such magnitude? We stayed glued to the television for a few more hours.

Later that night, we strolled around Via Veneto. The American Embassy was surrounded by Italian soldiers forming a human barrier around the compound. This was just the first of many security measures which would change in the coming years.

A few days later, we learned that the uncle of a family friend was on board flight 11, the first flight to hit the towers. His name was Daniel Lewin, and other than being a brilliant entrepreneur, he was a graduate of Sayeret Matkal, an elite IDF unit. He was the first victim of what was to become the biggest terror attack in history. From various recordings, there is a high degree of certainty that he tried to foil the hijacking, before getting stabbed by a terrorist who was behind him.

The rest is, as they say, history.

Where were you?

Palestinians celebrated 9/11 with candy

As we near the somber anniversary of the greatest terror attack ever perpetrated on US soil, take a moment to remember how you reacted. Take a moment to remember how your fellow citizens in your respective countries reacted.

How did people in East Jerusalem react?

The Palestinians danced joyfully in the streets, distributed candy, and flashed V for victory signs.

Remember this in a couple of weeks as these same Palestinians insist to the UN on their right to a state, in the very same city whose destruction they celebrated.

First post

I know people can't always agree. I know most of the people around me don't agree with me. And this is a problem, because actually most of my best friends hate my political opinions. You see, I'm not a socialist, I'm not a leftist, I don't hate Bush, I have no sympathy for Islamists, I don't hate Sarkozy and I guess I am just generally considered as politically incorrect. I tire of arguing with my friends, especially since everything I say about the USA, Israel, the war on terror, Palestinians, the elections in France, Iran, the war in Iraq, 9-11, 7-7, the veil, anti-semitism etc, seems to them to be tainted because I happen to be Israeli.

Yes, I am Israeli. Oh yeah, and Jewish. And therefore people assume that my opinion on what happens in my country (though I haven't lived there since my teens) is biased. Never mind the fact that about 50% of Israelis don't agree with me either. My opinion is biased.

Though it's true, I love my country and no matter where I live in the world I will still consider it MY country, I am capable of criticizing her decisions and actions. I try to remain objective and try to think of things not in terms of "Israel and Palestine" or "Jews and Muslims" or "Jews and non-Jews", but rather people from category A and category B. Easier said than done, I know. But I try. Still, no matter how I turn things, most of the time there's an obvious double standard when it comes to judging Israel. I will talk more about that as this blog progresses (I hope).

Who I really am is not important, as this blog isn't about me. I love civilized discussions, so feel free to comment. But don't forget, this is still my world, and I get to write what I want. If you don't like it, make your own blog. A blog I read a lot is Meryl Yourish, and just like her blog, this is a No Israel-Bashing Zone. If you do not respect the rules of my world, your comments will not be tolerated. I could just quote what she says about it, but the basic idea is this: Whether you agree or not, Israel gets bashed quite a lot, too much. I will not create a platform for Israel to be bashed some more.

There, now that I've done my aggressive bit, I can say I've really written my first post.
I will post mostly in English, but since I am currently living in France, I will probably want to express myself about things happening here and to our neighbors in French. Though I am not very interested in my local politics, so those parts will be rather superficial. I might occasionally post in Hebrew, but this will be more nostalgia.

About nostalgia, I chose Moishe Oofnik to represent me because I feel this is how others see me. For those who aren't familiar with the stars of my childhood, Moishe is from Rehov Sumsum , which is the Israeli equivalent of Sesame Street, and Moishe is the Israeli Oscar the Grouch. When I talk politics with my friends, I feel they all see me as an extremist, though I just try to point out facts and reality and unfairnesses which I notice. So instead, I will vent here, or post things that I find are interesting and most people don't know.

One day I might look back on this post and think to myself that as far as first posts go, I really could have been wittier or at least more interesting. But for now, I guess it'll do.