America’s support of Israel in destroying Gaza risks stoking the anger that fueled 9/11. 

The memories of 9/11 will always plague the minds of the generation of Americans who watched as it happened, and it will never be erased from the memories of our worldwide allies who mourned with us over the tragedy.

Glued to our TVs, whole families witnessed the destruction of the twin landmarks that had been a silent corroboration of the U.S. financial domination of our world—something that Americans were proud of, but something that millions in the rest of the world lividly resented.

Only a week before that terrible day, I had enjoyed lunch in the Windows on the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the North Tower. It hadn’t been my first time; I made a habit of eating there each time I passed through the Big Apple and, each time, I had been awed by the scenes of the lower N.Y. Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, the amazing facades of the financial district and the droves of ant-like automobiles, predictably jammed on the streets below.

So, I couldn’t help but realize that I could have been there—one of the 2,977 people who lost their lives in the fire and ensuing collapse of the mighty structures—and I’ve always understood that it was only the luck of the draw that left my own family with a husband, father, grandfather and friend.

A couple nights ago, my wife and I watched a documentary about the ongoing efforts to identify DNA from each one of the victims. We were amazed to find that, after nearly a quarter century, the Medical Examiner’s Office of New York City is still actively trying to provide closure to the families of those who were lost.

I had tears streaming down my face, understanding the gravity of each death and its effect on those left behind. For some of the relatives and friends, the DNA identification was the gentle closure of finality, but for others, it was an unbearable reconnection with tragedy.

That said, there were few Americans who were able to unfocus from the culpability of Middle East adversaries. After all, it’s human nature to avoid introspection where our own guilt is at risk of exposure. The famous words, “No man is an island,” come to mind, along with the realization that Manhattan Island, in a sense, controlled the rest of the world.

It is totally understandable that the U.S., as an inspiration to the hopeless and impoverished, was also the focus of hate.

There was a rush for retaliation, which President George “W.” Bush misdirected at innocent Muslim states. Hundreds of thousands died, prosperous countries were dismantled by America’s bombs and the human pool of suffering and despair was greatly expanded.

There were only a few Americans who, instead of pointing the finger of blame, understood that the root of the 9/11 tragedy was in America’s own actions, and that it was our own country’s deaf ears for the suffering of the Arab world that had been responsible for the hate that planned and executed the attack.

Now we can roll time forward and see a revised replay of America’s “darkest day,” as Israel tries to deny its own culpability by destroying an entire neighboring state, dropping the bombs provided by its friends and crushing the lives of Arabs in an onslaught that is probably unequaled in history—not, by any means, by the size of the destruction, but by the fact that a whole nation of millions of human beings has been destroyed and is now uninhabitable.

Certainly, in other wars, whole towns have been largely destroyed, but this is an entire nation and its people, who only wish to enjoy the same self-determination and freedom that Americans enjoy. They want to live; they want to work; they want the freedom to travel; and they had hoped for a future in which their own children could have the hope of better lives.

President Joe Biden may seem like a sweet, harmless old man. But despite his glib politicking, he has been a partner in the destruction of Gaza and the terrible suffering of Palestinians in the West Bank.

As our president, he had the ability to shut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu down. But after issuing many ultimatums, the U.S. is still supplying the same bombs that it deemed “not for defense but for aggression.”

This mess may have begun as a defense, but it’s been a long time since Israel could claim any high-ground in its brutal attacks on its fellow citizens of the Holy Land.

Sadly, very much like the pre-9/11 hate America inspired in the Arab world, today our country is a partner-monster in allowing Israel’s carnage and genocide to continue. In essence, our country and its president, with its obvious loyalties to war-industry corporations—rather than humanity—has helped to write an epitaph for the Palestinian people.

We have supported a rogue state whose only real loyalty is to the destruction of its neighbors, and it has done so without regard for international law, rules of war or humanitarian concerns. We need to speak truthfully, and the truth is that Netanyahu is one of history’s worst mass murderers.

We say that terrorists destroyed our twin towers. Terrorism is easy to define, and Netanyahu is arguably no better than Bin Laden. He is one of the leading terrorists of our world, and it’s time to shut down his desecration of humanity.

Biden’s previous ultimatums and his threats of withholding aid have been disregarded by Israel’s mad-dog leader. The Palestinians are being murdered, starved and routed, and there’s little left of their homeland. With no real political consequences possible—something that likely played into Biden’s previous decisions to disregard the worst of human suffering—there is now no conceivable excuse for him to allow this horrible tragedy to continue.

The rest of our world has condemned Netanyahu and seeks to bring him to justice. Rightly so. Our country, because of its own guilt, has remained an outlier, avoiding participation in the international organizations that seek to bring order and peace to our planet.

The end of Netanyahu’s terrorism is far overdue. That means shutting down all the aggression-supporting military aid that has allowed it to continue. We should all be very ashamed of the U.S. policies that have allowed this outrage.

As a country, we have blood on our hands. The only moral course is to shut down Netanyahu’s endless supply of American arms and military support, to force Israel to recognize the Palestinians as a people entitled to their sovereignty and to rebuild the nation that it sought, so maliciously, to destroy.

The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and their adorable and ferocious dog “Poppy.”