Last week, I visited the September 11th Memorial in lower Manhattan, looking for a specific name etched in the plaque memorializing those killed that awful day. I was looking for the name “Michael Anthony Tanner.” I knew Mike. Although we were not best friends, he was a year ahead of me in high school and I knew him. He was killed by criminal murderers on September 11, 2001.

I remember being angry when I first heard of the attacks and felt rage growing inside me. (This was months before I learned that Mike was among those murdered in the attacks that fateful day.) I was incredulous. Why would people kill themselves attacking two buildings full of strangers, civilians who represented various cultures, ethnicities, and religious groups? What compelled them? How could people be filled with so much hate?

I have felt hatred at times in my life. I am not proud of those moments, but I confess that I have acted angrily at times and said some stupid things. Yet I cannot comprehend being so enraged that I would kill innocent people, people who did not harm or offend me in any way, and commit suicide in the process. What would cause people to hate to this extent?

My lack of comprehension led me to seek answers.

Sadly, I made some discoveries.

The seeds of hatred that were harvested on September 11^th, 2001, were planted at the end of the first World War. During the war, the allied powers needed the help of various Arab tribes. In return for the Arabs toppling the Ottoman Empire, which had aligned itself with Germany, promises were made by the Western powers that a large Arab state would be established in the Middle East. At the end of the war, however, the Western powers betrayed their Arab allies and carved the Middle East up into nations which the Western Powers controlled. The British occupied Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. The French took North Africa and Lebanon.

Zionism had started in the late 18^th Century, claiming the right to a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This was supported during World War I by the Balfour Declaration of the British government. A few decades later, the end of World War II led to a massive exodus of Jews from Europe into Palestine. The horrors of the Holocaust and the knowledge that much of the world had turned a blind eye to the rise of Adolf Hitler created sympathy for the Zionist movement. The modern state of Israel was created in 1948 and war between Palestine and Israel broke out immediately. The seemingly unresolvable question then and now is how to guarantee the safety of the state of Israel while providing a safe homeland for Palestinians whose families have lived in that area for generations? The Palestinians did not make the decision to let the Jews move onto the land their ancestors had occupied for thousands of years. That decision was made by the United Nations, which was seen by the Arabs as being controlled by the same Western powers who had cheated them after World War I.

What followed is a cycle of violence that has cost the lives of countless innocent people. The Israelis continue to occupy land seized during conflicts in violation of many United Nations’ resolutions. Palestinians who live in the occupied areas are treated severely and deprived of services that are received by Israeli citizens. In addition, Palestinians are not subject to Israeli civilian courts but to military courts, which are much harsher. The plight of the Palestinians created hatred in the hearts of some, including Osama bin Laden. And over time, that hatred was directed at the United States as the leading Western power.  

In a number of statements following the 9/11 attacks, Bin Laden made it clear the attacks were made in response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “The Palestinian cause has been the main factor that, since my early childhood, fueled my desire, and that of the 19 freemen to stand by the oppressed, and punish the oppressive Jews and their allies,” Bin Laden said in 2008.

Religion complicates all of this—many, but not all, of the Palestinian people are Muslim. Israel is a Jewish state. And the Western powers are traditionally Christian nations.

The cycle of violence continues. The latest example is the dastardly attack on October 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza which has killed thousands of innocent civilians.

I do not condone any of the violence by any of the sides. But when I went looking to understand why the 9/11 attacks had taken place, the hard reality I had to face is we in the West have betrayed the Arabs. We betrayed them in the past and our continued funding of the Israeli war machine is seen as a continuation of that betrayal. Likewise, our continued tolerance of Israeli expansion into Palestinian land causes new generations of angry and armed people. The violence will continue as long as Israel’s behavior is tolerated and funded by Western powers.

And so it is that my friend Michael Anthony Tanner died as a pawn of a political conflict that started over 100 years ago.

Before more innocent people die, it is time for great minds find a way to guarantee the right of Israel to exist in peace and at the same time find a way to guarantee the rights and dignity of Palestinian citizens.