THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
On September 11th, 2026, a memorial event was held in London to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in history, which became known simply as 9/11.
On September 11th, 2001, 2,977 innocent people were killed in a series of events as two airliners were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, another into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and a fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers bravely fought back against the hijackers. They included 2,600 Americans but also citizens from scores of nations including 67 British people.
You doubtless know that, but to the UK based educational charity Since 9/11, that is the point. Most people (around 83% of Americans) born before 2001 say they remember where they were when they heard about the attacks. But over a quarter of the population was born after 9/11. History can lead to events becoming blurred or forgotten, and in the digital/social media age that followed conspiracy theories and anti-American/Western radicalization have run riot.
Since 9/11 was founded by Peter Rosengard to teach students in British schools about the attacks themselves and their causes and consequences, to try to ensure similar atrocities cannot happen again. It believes that by teaching tolerance and respect for all faiths and religions, a more peaceful, harmonious, and cohesive society can be created.
Starting in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the events, it has provided free education resources, in partnership with University College London’s UCL Institute of Education (ranked No. 1 in the world), to schools across the UK. Outreach workshops were added, to enable difficult discussions about radicalization, extremism, terrorism and fundamental Western values. It ran a national competition in which students wrote an essay or produce a short film on the subject ‘How did 9/11 Change the World?’, winners going on a 5 day trip to New York where they met the Mayor, NY Police and Fire commissioners, family members, first responders and students from Stuyvesant school next to Ground Zero.
The charity also commissioned a monumental World Trade Center steel public artwork by NYC based Japanese-American artist Miya Ando, also to be named Since 9/11. Unveiled in 2015 by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson and US Ambassador Matthew Barzun, it was later given a permanent site at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is a 28 feet tall artwork created from steel that was recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center, donated to London by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Ms Ando, who spoke at the memorial event, explained that in between the jagged pieces of rusty girder reaching into the sky, she had placed a panel that she'd polished to a mirror finish to reflect her vision of hope for a better future.
Families of British victims of 9/11, schoolchildren, and British firefighters and police representatives were among those attending the memorial event in front of the artwork.
Journalist Adam Boulton introduced the speakers, who included the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, and the chair of the Association of Muslim Schools UK, Ashfaque Chowdhury. Most of the speakers described where they were, and what they felt, when they heard the news that two planes had hit the World Trade Center.
Since 9/11’s Peter Rosengard, said that “The steel beside us will stand for 100 years. Let its lesson stand just as long: that, from the worst day, we can still teach the next generation to build a better one.”
Representing the US Ambassador the UK, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy Elizabeth Martin-Shukrun said “Where the attacks of 9/11 showed the very worst of humanity, the hours and days that followed revealed the very best in humanity. We saw the bravery of the firefighters and the emergency responders who put their lives on the line to help those in need, and whose bravery continues to inspire us today.” She added that after the attacks the US Embassy in London received letters from churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques, “because, where the enemies of freedom sought to divide us with an act of hatred and intolerance, we responded with compassion, with humanity, with unity, and with resolve”.
Liam McKenna told how he was 15 years old on the day of the attacks and watched the events on television with his mother. “At first, this was a distant event in another country happening to someone else. Over the next few hours and days, it became personal to me,” he said. His mother told him that his uncle Michael worked in the World Trade Center. In an accident of fate, Liam’s aunt Christine was visiting the building. Both Michael and Christine Egan died when the South Tower collapsed.
Chief Rabbi Mirvis explained that in the Jewish tradition, “anniversaries are not so much about the past, but, rather, what we can learn from the past for the sake of our future. When confronted by terrorism, our response must be to stand tall with pride, never losing hope in a good future. When confronted by hate, our response must be to increase our love of community, of decency, of fairness, of family. When confronted by those who seek to glorify death, we must respond by sanctifying life.”
Mr Chowdhury read a moving poem he had written on his thoughts about 9/11 which includes: “O sorrow, impartial king, you entered church, synagogue, mosque, and home, asked no faith of our tears, and left every mother speaking the same language of grief.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham sent a video message saying, “On this anniversary, we must remember that hatred and fear did not have the last word on 9/11 … Time may pass, but I know the grief is still felt just as deeply today.” The former Mayor of Greater Manchester, he recalled “the messages of support and friendship from people across America who knew better than anyone the suffering of our city” following later terrorist attacks in Manchester.
A student from the Bobby Moore Academy in the Olympic Park, Victoria, read a speech that she wrote with three friends. She said, “Plurality is where people can believe different things, live different lives, but in the same place. New York City is a great example of this, with its multicultural society and racial acceptance. 9/11 happened originally because of hate, violence, and anger. We need to try harder to accept each other in every possible way.”
Cellist Megan Clarke played music by JS Bach, which Yo-Yo Ma played in New York on the first anniversary of the attacks.
The US ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens, also paid his respects on Friday morning as he laid a white floral wreath at the September 11th Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square in central London, the former home of the Embassy.
"It's a tragedy none of us will ever forget. But we'll also never forget the friendship the British people showed us with an outpouring of letters and flowers from all over the country," he said.
