Dear dbdbdb,
The information you stated is a hoax, published by the Al Manar
television, which belongs to the Hizbullah faction in Lebanon. It has
no collaboration from other sources. You can read a full story about
the source of the hoax in MSN.com - <http://slate.msn.com/?id=116813>.
The mythological number 4,000 comes apparently from the number of
Israelis in the New York area, as published by the Israeli consulate
right after the attacks.
Moreover, Jews and Israelis were actually killed in the WTC attacks.
The lists of people killed reveals Israelis as well as workers who
were Jewish <CNN.com, "Victims",
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims.section.html
especially see the map of International victims>. One of them, a hero
who paid with his life to save the lifes of others, was Abraham
Zelmanowitz (died at 55), and you can read his story at WNBC site
(WNBC, Hero Of World Trade Center Attack Laid To Rest In Israel", 5
August 2002 http://www.wnbc.com/news/1595063/detail.html).
You can also read about other Jewish victims in Jewish Week.com, "The
Mitzvah To Remember" by Gary Rosenblatt (09/05/2002)
<http://www.thejewishweek.com/bottom/specialcontent.php3?artid=365>
In another source, it is written "...Certainly, there were Jewish
victims, but they were not singled out as Jews. Rather, the diversity
of the victims is one of the hallmarks of the event, as was the fusing
of "American identity and American Jewish identity," in the words of
Alan Dershowitz, which appeared in the September 14 edition of the
Forward.[10] Missing notices and memorials to Jews who died in the
attacks can be found along side those of everyone else. Given a long
history of responding to violence that was targeted specifically to
Jews, are Jewish museums equipped to respond to events like this? That
is, to an event that had its Jewish victims, but they were not singled
out for being Jewish. Who is documenting Jewish experiences and
responses to the events of September 11? Who is collecting material,
conducting interviews, and planning exhibitions that will bring the
perspective of Jewish museums to this event?
The New York Times reported on students from Stern College for Women
who sat shifts guarding the dead, who were in a morgue that had been
improvised in tents outside the New York Medical Examiner's Office.
The Forward reported on the role of the Hatzolah Orthodox volunteer
ambulance corps in speeding injured rescue workers to New York
University Hospital; the dilemma of celebrating joyous holidays, like
Simchat Torah, in the midst of tragedy; and lessons learned from
Holocaust survivors about "survivor guilt" and collective mourning.
There are even Jewish 9/11 artifacts--or, at least, artifacts that
have a special resonance after 9/11, to mention only the T-shirt with
"I love New York" in Yiddish..." (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara
"Reflections on Jewish Museums after September 11"
<http://www.jewishculture.org/docs/museums_cajm_conference_02_keynote.html>).
There are many conspiracy theories involving the 9-11 attacks. You can
find many such theories, including the one you mentioned, in
snopes.com <http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/>, in a page where rumours
are also ordered by their validity. Some are found to be true, but
this one wasn't.
As for the title of your question - "what are we fighting for?", this
is controversial issue, since as you probably know, some people
object the war. However, the war, according to its supporters, targets
terrorists. The target of the war is to eliminate terrorism. If you
have some viable evidences that the terrorists are not who they are
thought to be (and not easy to rebute Internet hoazes), you might
consider contacting the authorities, to let them know of such issue.
Further links
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Terrorism/Incidents/2001_World_Trade_Center_and_Pentagon_Attack/
Abraham Foxman, ADL, "New Excuses, Old Hatred: Worldwide Anti-Semitism
In Wake Of 9/11" http://www.adl.org/anti%5Fsemitism/speech.asp
You can use my search term to know more:
"9-11" "jewish victims"
wtc "jewish victims"
"ultra orthodox" hero wtc "wheelchair"
"urban legends" wtc
"9-11" antisemitism
I think that answers your question. If you need any clarifications,
just ask. |
