Five years later

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&day_of_9/11=dayOf911

I'm sure everyone's writing about 9/11 today, and I'm no different.

For an in-depth timeline of 9/11, check out the link above. I'm going through it now, and I keep getting chills.

Having been in Israel since 2 July, I had already experienced what it was like to live in a country where the threat of terror hung over our heads.

But it wasn't until 11 September that most of the rest of the world had to learn how to live like that.

I remember on 11, 12, 13 September, trying to figure out if I should go home. Was there going to be a war? Was Israel going to be attacked next? What was it like being in America?

But I stayed, and while Americans were mostly able to start working their ways out of being constantly afraid, the suicide bombings here happened more and more frequently.

I actually ended up bitter and angry at the way America was capitalizing on the tragedy. It seemed like every other commercial was saying "Now, more than ever..." and that would be followed with "you should be watching Channel 7 to keep up with what's going on in the world." or "you should protect your family by buying X life insurance."

[At the same time, we here in Israel were getting blamed for being attacked, because we "occupy" land where Palestinians live. (The fact that in pretty much every other war since the beginning of civilization, conquering armies were entitled to lands conquered doesn't apply to Jews.)]

Now, five years later, all over the world we're still afraid of terror attacks.

I wish America and those fortunate enough to have been free from such fear could return to the level of innocence it was afforded before 9/11.