MKs, officials to honor 10th anniversary of 9/11

Ceremony, which will included victims' families, will be held Sunday afternoon at Israeli memorial located in the Jerusalem Forest.

By MELANIE LIDMAN
KKL-JNF (photo credit: KKL-JNF)
KKL-JNF
(photo credit: KKL-JNF)
Members of Knesset and families of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks at a ceremony on Sunday afternoon at Israel’s 9/11 memorial, which is located in the Jerusalem Forest.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro, and representatives from the police and fire departments will commemorate the 2,980 people that were killed, including 343 police and firefighters who rushed to the scene.
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The Israeli monument to the 9/11 terror attacks is the largest memorial outside of the US, and is designed as a billowing flag that turns into an eternal flame, etched with the names of the victims, including five Israelis who were killed, Alona Avraham, Daniel Mark Lewin, Hagai Shefi, Leon Lebor, and Shai Levinhar. The monument was dedicated two years ago and was designed by Israeli artist Eliezer Weishoff.
The memorial itself is tucked away in a little-visited corner of the Jewish National Fund’s Jerusalem Forest and some visitors have complained the monument is nearly impossible to find.
“Ten years have passed since that fateful day,” said Efi Stenzler, world chairman of the JNF, ahead of the 10th anniversary memorial. “The whole world held its breath at the sight of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon burning... The September 11 attacks are a major disaster and incomprehensible. The free world has now understood what we learned the hard way, and that is not letting these enemies of humanity get another chance.”
JNF has organized a memorial service for the attacks every year.
“The purpose of this special monument is to help deal with the tragedy and carry on without falling apart, in addition it is there to remind us to fight with determination against the root of evil,” Stenzler said.