Huntington Doctor Reflects On 9/11, Xenophobia 16 Years Later

Dr. Eve Krief, of Huntington, submitted an opinion piece titled, "9/11, A Postscript," to Patch. In the piece, she expresses her thoughts on how she believes the country went from a united melting pot to losing the war against terrorism just 16 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

D.r Krief has a pediatrics practice in Huntington and is affiliated with Huntington Hospital.

Read her thoughts below:

I remember driving into the city from Long Island for the first time after 9/11. The checkpoint at the midtown tunnel; the barricades; the heavy police presence; the faint smell of smoke tinged with something else I couldn't quite place. Our world had changed forever and an innocence had been lost. I remember trying to fully grasp the inconceivable loss of life. I remember thinking what a shame it was that for the foreseeable future a great portion of our country's resources would have to be dedicated to defending against terrorism; that we would undoubtedly be fighting a war against terrorism for a very, very long time. A new reality set in. And in that, the terrorists had won.

However, I remember being so heartened when six days after 9/11 President Bush visited a mosque and declared "Islam is peace." He reminded us that "America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens...those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind and they should be ashamed." In those words lie our greatest strength as Americans. I remember thinking that the terrorists can try as they will, but they will not tear down our democracy. We will continue to be a country that embraces its melting pot and stands for hope and freedom to people around the world.

But I had been naive. Little did I know that the melting pot would simmer for the next sixteen years and that ignorance, hate and xenophobia would ultimately boil over. The pot just needed to be stirred. And so, because of the unopposed divisive rhetoric we have been subjected to this year, we have seen a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and racist acts across our country, as those that would hate have been emboldened.

What people do not seem to understand is that we are now finally letting the terrorists succeed at what they most sought to accomplish. They wanted to expose us as hypocrites. They could not conceive of a country where people truly respect each other regardless of race, religion, gender or ethnicity; where everyone is equal and free. On 9/11, they wanted to "destroy the American dream and the legend of democracy." Sixteen years later they are finally succeeding.

This year has seen the fabric of what we thought was America slowly torn away. The Muslim Ban; our President's moral equivocation of White supremacists with those that would oppose them; the attack on DACA. All these events beg one question: Who do we want to be as Americans? Do people not see that we are in fact being the opposite of what we supposedly stand for as a country? We cannot have it both ways. We preach that we honor freedom of religion and equality in this country. We pride ourselves on being a beacon of light to oppressed and persecuted refugees, and to those simply seeking a better life for their children. We claim to embrace and welcome them. Yet the events of this year reveal a deep hypocrisy in this country. The terrorists on 9/11 wanted to tear down a great symbol of American innovation and opportunity. They wanted to show the world that we are not so special, that we are not, in fact, who we claim to be.

We are at a crossroads and if we are to survive we can and must be that country we claim to be. It is a battle for the very identity of our great nation. We are special. We are a melting pot, like no other country in the world. Now more than ever, we have to fight for our democracy, fight for the freedom of all our people and for refugees from around the world. We must protect our great democracy. Empathy and understanding must overpower ignorance and xenophobia. This is the true post 9/11 battle and we must win.

Dr. Eve Krief, MD

Headshot via Dr. Eve Krief