Joe Biden called Americans to unity, “Our greatest strength”, in a video message published Friday, September 10, on the eve of the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of September 11.
“This is the central lesson of 9/11 for me. It is that when we are the most vulnerable (…), unity is our greatest strength ”, declares the American president, filmed at the White House, in a message of a little more than six minutes.
The president addresses himself directly to the victims and to all those who have lost loved ones. “To the families of the 2,977 people from 90 countries who were killed on September 11, 2001 (…) and to the thousands who have been injured, America and the world pay homage to you and your loved ones. “
“Unity is what makes us what we are”
Joe Biden also greets “All those who risked and gave their lives in the minutes, hours, months and years that followed”. In the aftermath of the attacks, “We saw heroism everywhere. We also saw something too rare: national unity. Unity is what makes us who we are, America at its best ”, he said.
The American president also recalled that the attacks have resurfaced “The dark side of human nature: fear and anger, resentment and violence against Muslim Americans, honest followers of a peaceful religion.”
Critical for his management of the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan as for the health decisions he has just taken to fight against Covid-19, the president wished to be a unifier: “Oneness doesn’t mean we all have to believe the same thing, but it is essential that we respect each other, and have faith in each other. “
Joe Biden and his wife Jill go on Saturday to the three iconic locations of the 9/11 attacks: in New York, on the Pentagon site, in Washington, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a plane crashed hijacked by jihadists twenty years ago.
Minutes of silences and musical tribute
President Joe Biden will silently preside over the tribute to the victims from the impressive Manhattan memorial built at the base of new skyscrapers, on “Ground Zero”, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.
At 8:46 a.m. on Saturday, the time when the first plane hacked by five of the 19 jihadists had struck the north tower of the World Trade Center, a minute of silence will be observed at the memorial.
Five more minutes of silence and musical tributes will follow one another until 12:30 p.m. to mark the tragedies of that fatal morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001: for the collapse of the New York towers, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash in Shanksville.
Like every September 11, for three hours, the names of nearly 3,000 dead will be read at the New York memorial. Huge vertical beams of light are already rising from the two large black basins that have replaced the base of the towers.
In Times Square, in the heart of Manhattan, the economic heart of the world’s leading power, where America’s victories are traditionally celebrated, a gathering and moments of contemplation are also planned.
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