Political, religious tensions mark ninth anniversary of 9/11

NEW YORK - Political and religious tensions, besides demonstrations marked the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terror strikes that had led to the death of over 2,900 Americans in 2001.

Though the names of nearly 3,000 victims were read out under crisp blue skies in Lower Manhattan after the bells of the city’s houses of worship tolled at the exact moment - 8:46 a.m. - that the first plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center, posters and photographs that victims’ relatives held aloft, bluntly injected politics into New York City’s annual ceremony.

The focus of the two posters was the controversy surrounding the proposed building of a mosque and a Islamic convention center near Ground Zero.

According to the New York Times, differences were evident from the outset.Thousands filled the makeshift plaza beside a construction site sprouting cranes and American flags on a crystal-clear morning a few degrees cooler than the one nine years ago. They carried cups of coffee and wore T-shirts emblazoned with the symbols of the response agencies that had paid so dearly. Until midday, they placed flowers at ground zero.

During the ceremony, knots of protesters wandered the area, sometimes arguing. In the afternoon, a few blocks away, police officers and barricades separated demonstrations, both for and against the Muslim center, that each drew about 2,000 people.

Around the country, people debated the meaning of 9/11 and the appropriateness of political rallies and protests on its anniversary.

The day also drew an array of national and international figures.

At the Pentagon, in a memorial honoring the nearly 200 victims of the attack there, President Obama said that those responsible had sought to divide the country.

“They may seek to spark conflict between different faiths, but as Americans we are not - and never will be - at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day; it was Al Qaeda, a sorry band of men which perverts religion. And just as we condemn intolerance and extremism abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation,” Obama said.

In Shanksville, Pennslyvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after passengers rebelled against the plane’s hijackers, the focus remained on the victims, with speeches by the first lady, Michelle Obama, and her predecessor, Laura Bush. (ANI)