I Didn't See This One Coming...September 11th and the Israeli and American Identity

Today, marking the terrorist attacks of September 11, it was no surprise that facebook lit up with pictures and thoughts in remembrance of the victims of September 11th. Personally, I never connected with remembering September 11th through social media. We all know what we were doing the moments we heard. We all remember the unity and the nationalism that took place in its aftermath. September 11th remains a day of national unity for us, some of us go to ceremonies and some of us go on facebook.

Now, here is where it gets interesting. While I was scrolling this morning I came upon this post: “You know your finally Israeli when you dont know the date equals 9/11 as an event until it turns usa hours and then it starts to show on your newsfeed. Unfortunately, here in Israel, we have terror attacks all the time, probably a rocket JUST shot into the south...”. So I am sure that she did not mean it for it to sound the way it came out, but it got me thinking and hey-Yeah I may get unfriended over this post, but who cares.

My Goucher, University of Leeds and Brandeis Education in International Relations, Political Science and Global Studies all of a sudden resurfaced into my brain. I suddenly saw myself sitting in class while studying abroad and talking about British Nationalism. What is nationalism? What makes people come together as a nation?

My second thought came as a Zionist. This comment was obviously not said to create uproar in my head, but it did it anyways. Is this the ultimate feeling of what it is to be Israeli? Now a question to all of you who made aliyah: When did you finally feel Israeli?


Then my thoughts floated to the diversity of the people of Israel. People come from everywhere- India, Ethiopia, Syria, Jordan, South Africa, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Yemin, Russia, Poland, the United States- 6 Continents worth of individuals making up the Israeli identity. You cannot tell me that it is easy to forget where you come from. If it is not your voice, then maybe it is the way you behave, maybe it is the music that is played at a simcha, and maybe it is your family’s history, your grandmother’s stories. You cannot assume a new identity without taking bits of the past with you.

I was told I was Israeli by a mean customs agent at Ben Gurion Airport. He told me to get a passport or I would be in trouble. I spent a lot of my teen years trying to make sense of the passport given to me. I tried everything, fisherman pants, learning Hebrew, I made some of the best sabra friends a person could ever ask for. I stayed in Israel after hanging out in bomb shelters in Haifa in 2006. In college I debated in favor of Israel against anti Israeli groups on campus, yet, it wasn't until recently where I decided I felt like an Israeli Citizen. It was when I went to Israel, with my American husband and we stood in line together. It was a collection of my past with my future.


I would hope that it was not becoming accustomed and apathetic to terrorist attacks that took  a person to feel Israeli. The same as I hope it would not take September 11th for Americans to feel American.   My hope that it would be from the unity of the people, being thrown off an Israeli bus, being pushed out of line, being yelled at a gas station, smelling the fresh challot in the shuk, hiking, swimming, teaching, learning, serving your time in the Israeli army, praying- anything but being apathetic to terrorist attacks.

This is where I come back to September 11th, I believe September 11th was the first time in recent history that Americans could relate to terrorist attacks in Israel. It was the first time that there was a shared pain and a shared sense of pride in our identities. It is bothersome to think that someone would feel they have finally assumed the identity of an Israeli, because they are simply used to terrorist attacks and forgot about the significance of September 11th in the United States until once her friends woke up.

I know that the Sabra stereotype has not died out. Israelis are strong for what they face every day. They are strong for all the events in the past, but I do not think that there is one person who I know in Israel or in the United States that does not remember the feeling of loss and who does not soften up a little to remember.