ByLIAT COLLINSSEPTEMBER 11, 2026 12:37This column is slated for publication on September 11 – 9/11. It’s an unforgettable date – or should be. This year, the 25th anniversary brings added significance.A quarter of a century has passed since the planes hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington; another plane was brought down by courageous passengers and crew in Pennsylvania before it could hit its intended destination, the Capitol.The targets were carefully chosen as the very symbols of the United States of America and strategic sites where chaos and terror would have the greatest impact.We owe it to the nearly 3,000 victims never to forget what happened in the multiple attacks that day. Never forget and never distort.The recent storm over Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s reporting guide is just one example of how history can’t be changed, but the narrative can. A leaked memo by Basem Boshra, whose title is, incongruously, “senior director of journalistic standards and public trust,” instructed CBC journalists not to refer to “the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks” without attributing the label to an outside source.The aftermath of Hamas's Nova music festival massacre in Re'im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. Picture taken November 2, 2023 (credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)Instead, Boshra said reporters should note that “hijackings led to passenger jet crashes,” as if the planes abducted themselves on autopilot before spontaneously combusting as they by chance hit crucial and iconic American sites.Following a backlash, Boshra noted that CBC had “… decided to adjust [its policy] to clarify that direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism.”It wasn’t just terrorism – it was war!Israel has since had its own 9/11 – October 7, 2023. It’s another date that doesn’t require a year to qualify it. The October 7 mega-atrocity – when Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Gazan civilians invaded Israel in a frenzy of rape, mutilation, arson, kidnapping, and murder – left Israel with 1,200 dead and 251 hostages in Gaza, and sparked a war on seven fronts.The CBC memo reminded me of the BBC’s refusal to call Hamas as terrorists.'Terrorism is a loaded word'Referring to Hamas “gunmen” and “militants,” world affairs editor John Simpson explained on October 11, 2023: “Terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally. It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”Not for the first time I wondered how Britain would have fought and beaten Nazi Germany in today’s social climate.Palestinians, by the way, celebrated the 9/11 attacks the same as they cheered Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s Scud missiles the previous decade.September 2026 marks another noteworthy anniversary: While Israel was undergoing a wave of lethal terrorist attacks collectively labeled as the “Second Intifada,” it was also dealing with the first Durban Conference. The full name of this UN-sponsored event was, ironically, the “World Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.” It turned into a venomous anti-Israel and antisemitic hate fest that set the tone for the next quarter of a century, and probably well into the future.There have been ongoing attempts to downplay the horrors or blame the victims. Blaming the Jews has been a feature of Western life for centuries. Today, the word “Jews” is replaced by “Zionists” to try to make the blood libel more palatable.The beginning of the millennium was the decade of al-Qaeda. Subsequently, the focus moved to ISIS (Islamic State), but their quest is the same – as is their willingness to use martyrs for the cause.The Islamic Republic of Iran has supported both Shi’ite and Sunni terror proxies, and launched missiles on Israel and across the Gulf states. Stop for a minute to consider why Iran is still intent on achieving nuclear capabilities and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could deliver the warheads to the US and Europe.What happens if unconventional weapons end up in the hands of terrorists dedicated to martyrdom? What will deter Iran from using nuclear weapons if its leaders believe that citizens killed in a second strike will go straight to heaven? Remember, the same regime killed a reported 30,000 Iranian protesters at the beginning of the year.Those who provided the weapons to the terrorists in Gaza harbor no sympathy for any Western nations. Attempts to appease them by singling out Israel for boycotts and sanctions might buy time but can’t buy safety.The world that looks the other way when Islamists from various jihadi movements commit appalling massacres in Africa and parts of Asia, is not turning the other cheek; it’s ignoring a threat that will only grow. Calling out Islamist extremism is not Islamophobic. It saves lives – of all religions, including Muslims. One of the lessons of 9/11 was that anyone could become a victim.September 11, 2001, was not just about the US. It was an assault on the West. It wasn’t a reaction to US actions; it was the trigger. October 7 was not an act of “resistance” against Israeli occupation; it was the invasion of Israel from the Gaza Strip, where every last Jew had been evicted 18 years before.An entire generation has grown up that doesn’t remember firsthand the events of that awful day. It’s a generation subjected to endless manipulation via social and conventional media.The world has grown 25 years older, but not sufficiently wiser. Despite all the jihadist terror attacks that have hit cities across the globe in the intervening years, the message has not yet hit home. It’s called “global jihad” for a reason. Nowhere is safe from the extremists fueled by a fanatic religious ideology that elevates the status of “martyrdom.”What Hamas perpetrated on pastoral communities in southern Israel on October 7 stems from the same perverted jihadist ideology that brought down the World Trade Center on 9/11; blew up London buses and trains on 7/7; and inflicted horrendous casualties at the Bataclan theater in Paris in 2015, a Bastille Day parade in Nice in 2016, and on the teenage audience of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in 2017.Terrorists who murder thousands of people are not looking to resolve conflicts; they are seeking to start wars and destroy a civilization. If you’re too scared to call a terrorist “a terrorist,” they’ve won. You can’t wage war on terrorism if you’re too afraid to name it.Here’s another atrocity from another September that should have served as an early warning: At the Munich Olympics in September 1972, Palestinian terrorists held members of the Israeli team hostage in the Olympic village, where they mutilated and murdered two victims. Nine more Israeli hostages were killed during a botched German rescue attempt at an airfield.It was the first time an international event was hijacked by terrorists. The need for massive security today at everything from sporting events to concerts can be traced back directly to Munich, September 1972. Those chanting “Globalize the Intifada” are either too stupid or too wicked to see what that means.The antisemitism of the far-left and the far-right is strong enough to unite them in a radical, dangerous alliance.Just how far we’ve come – in the wrong direction – can be seen in Zohran Mamdani presiding as mayor of New York City at the 25th commemoration of 9/11. The stridently anti-Israel mayor is obsessed with the events in Gaza but is unable to name the terrorists or ideology responsible.This weekend marks another significant date. It is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Israel’s National Security Council has issued a warning of terror threats against Israelis and Jews abroad ahead of the religious holiday season. Not that we were oblivious to the dangers: a war was launched in 1973 on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and October 7 coincided with Simchat Torah, a festival of joy.The Western world can’t afford to ignore these threats. Twenty-five years after the Durban Conference, there is a tidal wave of antisemitic attacks; 25 years after 9/11, Christian communities are being targeted no less than the Jews.When Rosh Hashanah and 9/11 coincide, the sound of shofar should serve as a wake-up call for all. From Ground Zero, you can choose to go up or down. You can’t afford to look away and pretend it was just some horrible accident in history.Follow us on Google