Empowering Victims of Terrorism
II International Congress on Terrorism Victims
Sergio Arboleda University
Bogota, Colombia
February 23-24, 2005
Before I start, I would like to thank the organizers of the II International Congress on
Terrorism Victims and the Sergio Arboleda University for inviting me to participate on
behalf of the Families of September 11.
Over three years ago, because of the mixed blessing of modern communication
technology and mass media, we all experienced in real time the events of September 11th
which established a new benchmark for terror in world history. For my family, the events
were deeply personal as my 24 year old daughter Jean was a flight attendant for
American Airlines on flight #11 out of Logan Airport. Her death on that day along with
the other 3000 victims is a tragedy that my family will never understand or be able to
accept--but as one of the representatives of the Families of the 3000 victims of the events
of September 11th, I will do my best to try and convey to you the importance that the
victims and families of the victims can play in helping governments and societies deal
with the wounds that are created by these terrible events.
Going back to September 11, 2001, like many of you, I watched with horror as the
tragedy unfolded in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. My reaction I’m
embarrassed to say-- as I watched this disaster from the safe confines of my office with a
comfortable detachment--was “what a terrible thing that is happening to those people?”
After all, this was happening in New York and I was in New Haven. My son lived in
New York City close to the World Trade Center but I knew he was traveling in Pittsburgh
that day. Sure, I had friends in New York but what I was watching—an attack on the
United States--seemed almost unreal. However, this comfortable and detached feeling
came to a tragic halt when I received a frantic call from my wife informing me that that
this tragedy had also affected my family since my 24 yr. old daughter Jean, a flight
attendant for American Airlines who happened to be working that month on a standby
basis had at the last minute been asked to fill in on flight #11 for a sick co-worker. My
daughter Jean was a beautiful young woman who had spent 5 years at Penn State
graduating with a degree in environmental science, and had taken the job with the airlines
to see and experience the world before settling down into a more sedentary job. Like you
and many of the innocent victims of terrorism, she had hopes and dreams. But, whether
it’s the 3000 victim’s of the attacks of September 11th, or the victims of the Bali, Madrid
bombings, those killed at the school in Beslan, Russia, innocent victims of the wars in
Iraq or the Sudan, or the many other terrorist acts that have occurred throughout the
world, their hopes will never be realized.
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Like many of you, the loss that my family suffered on September 11 can never be
replaced. My wife and I are here--and I assume many of you are here--because we have
all committed ourselves to do something about terrorism and its tragic affects on society.
Also, for those of us who lost our loved ones, anything that we can do to improve the
situation is a fitting memorial to those that we lost.
I’ve entitled my remarks “Empowering Victims of Terrorism”. Now I would shift my
remarks and talk about victim’s organizations and the types of empowerment that we the
victims of terrorism, can pursue to assist other victims and be able to confront the
difficult and complicated issues that surround the genesis of terrorism and how to deal
with its tragic effects. From my experience, empowerment has taken the form of being
actively involved with both organizing a large group of victim’s families and engaging in
different forms of advocacy on behalf of the victims—including working closely with our
governments and other victim’s groups to lobby for specific changes in public policy.
After September 11, this organization effort and empowerment occurred fairly quickly
due to a group of highly motivated and talented people whose loved ones happened to be
on the airplanes. Even though most of the 9-11 victims were from the NYC area,
motivation to organize I feel was stronger among the airline group of victim’s families
because they were from areas outside of the NYC area and felt somewhat disconnected
from all of the support efforts that were NYC-based. The purpose of the group was
critical in keeping people informed and allowing people to gain emotional support from
each other. The group which we named Families of September 11 officially was
organized only 6 weeks after the events of 9-11 and has grown to include over 1400 of
the victims families from 9-11 and also includes a large group of associate members.
The group was established with two goals:


Promotion of the interests of victims' families, survivors, and others affected by
9/11 as an important information source (i.e. financial, emotional, mental health,
and memorialization)
And advocacy and support of public policies that respond to the threat of
terrorism; (i.e. support for the 9/11 Commission Recommendations, legislation
related to aviation, border, port and transportation security, and intelligence
reform).
Families of September 11, Inc. is privately-funded and non-partisan in its support of
public policy issues. This has enabled us to maintain a very high degree of credibility on
issues related to government reforms and we have been very successful in mobilizing
bipartisan public support for an issue where necessary. I mention this issue of the
relationship between the government and the victim’s support groups because I know
there are some terrorism victim’s groups that have receive direct government support and
run the risk of being co-opted for political purposes. This can be a danger and while I
understand the importance of funding for the survival of our groups, I would encourage
groups and governments to look at indirect support arrangements. This could be in the
form of government grants to support specific limited group activities.
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An example of one of the issues where the group empowerment has been very helpful is
in the memorialization process. It has been said that “memorials are not for the dead” but
for the living. We certainly honor the dead by establishing memorials, but clearly the
reason that we dedicate our efforts to establish memorials is to maintain the collective
memory about the importance of certain events—especially ones where peoples lives
have been lost. The memorial process is an area where I spend a great deal of time largely
related to my background in building design and construction. As many of you are
probably aware, the 9-11 destruction of the WTC not only killed 3000 people but also
destroyed a large part of lower Manhattan. This resulted in the need for a massive
rebuilding program that is being driven largely by political and economic issues and is
not necessarily sensitive to the needs of the victim’s families to create a meaningful
memorial. In this process, the fact that the victim’s families have organized into groups
has been extremely helpful in coordinating their needs for a memorial at the site.
Other areas where group formation and empowerment has been critical is in mobilizing
public opinion to force the government into allowing for a complete investigation of the
events surrounding the terrorist event. I’m sure there are many of you who have been the
victims of terrorist events where the complete picture of the events and specifically the
governments role is not fully understood and even purposely obscured due to political or
other reasons. The Independent Investigation of the events of 9-11 would not have
happened if not for the empowerment and support of the 9-11 families groups. And the
enactment of many of the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission will not happen
without our continued support. In our country, like many of yours, changes in the
government operations can be difficult and will not happen on their own.
In terms of where we go from here, I can tell you that we are continuing to participate in
advocacy of changes in public policy to try and improve our security and response to acts
of terrorism. Also, we are trying to partner with our government and other international
agencies to understand and deal with some of the root causes that lead to terrorism. We
are trying to do this with our eyes open to many of the injustices that exist in this world
and our limited abilities to address them. One of the key issues and I am encouraged by
the representation here of many key government officials is the responsibilities that the
state has in its support of the victims of terrorism. Our approach to this issue is largely
based on the following:
“Terrorism attacks are devastating but are largely conceived and carried out as
symbolic with their real impact directed at the state. Terrorism is a sub-form of
political violence and should be viewed as at the pinnacle of risks and liabilities
for our political system because it seeks to perpetrate harms which threaten the
entire population and political economy. By comparison, auto accidents,
earthquakes, and other natural disasters may also have terrible results but they do
not put at risk the system of our society and the existence of our state.”
Quote from Clive Walker, Professor of Criminal Justice Studies and Head of School of Law,
University of Leeds and author of several studies and Guide to the Anti-Terrorism Legislation
(2002)
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There is an interesting story that I’d like to leave you with that relates to our continuing
frustration in dealing with the root causes of terrorism. It occurred in 1932, when Albert
Einstein asked Sigmund Freud to join him in his support of pacifism. To the surprise of
Einstein, Freud replied that he did not believe that his support of pacifism would be
beneficial since there was no likelihood of ever suppressing humanity’s aggressive
tendencies. As the great analyst of the human psyche, Freud said that if there were any
reason for hope, he felt that man would turn away from war and other acts of inhumanity
only on rational grounds—specifically that war had become so destructive, that there was
no possibility for the traditional acts of heroism according to the old ideals. Of course,
Freud was partly correct: --after WWII--at least between the great powers—war did seem
to become far less likely but his argument does not seem to apply to the terrorism of
recent years which seems to have acquired a heroic and martyr status especially when
tied to religious fanaticism. Who would’ve ever imagined that suicide bombers would
acquire a heroic status that has provided an almost endless supply of them for the terrorist
organizations to carry out their campaign of violence?
In summary, for those of us families who continue to work on behalf of victims of
terrorism, I can tell you that it can be frustrating and it is a long road. What we seek is
best said by the mission statement for the WTC 9-11 memorial and I quote:
Remember and honor the thousands of innocent men, women and children
murdered by terrorists in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993 and
September 11, 2001.
Respect this place made sacred through tragic loss.
Recognize the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who
risked their lives to save others, and the compassion of all who supported us
in our darkest hours.
May the lives remembered, the deeds recognized, and the spirit reawakened
by eternal beacons, which reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to
preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance and intolerance.
Thank you.
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