šļø IN MEMORIAM šļø
Son of 9/11 victim Michael Massaroli: "You do my dad's legacy and the legacy of all these victims no honor by using this tragedy to spread hate... Seeing people use it to hate on our Muslim brothers and sisters... That's wrong. That does no honor to the victims here... please stop."
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Grew up on 77th&Amsterdam, lived in bk on 9/11. I didnt know shit about Islam prior to the attacks. Now - I have several muslim friends and have learned a crapton about Middle Eastern and South Asian religions. I know more about those areas food. I learned all of this from my neighbors.
Ive had the privilege of attending a wedding where the whole buffet was a middle eastern merger. I have never eaten like that in my LIFE! I took two boxes home with me as well. I have DREAMS of that cuisine.
Try to hit Syrian food, got a bunch of friends from there and they would take me to restaurants they aproved of, fantastic food. They often argue they are the origin of shuarma, I believe them, it's fucking next level. I just can't describe the flavour profile, think about cardamom, cumin, garlic, lemon/lemon wood even a bit of sweetness. Shit is so good.
I have to say it was truly ironic for me I think yesterday see the sub livestreamsfails (a Zionist sub) criticize this sub for being the "bad part of reddit", meanwhile this sub is promoting victims who talk about stopping oppression of others.
It's funny how supporters of oppression always attack people who are defending victims. Then they pretend they are the victims.
I intentionally took a course on Islam to fill one of my undergrad requirements a year or two after 9/11. I never bought into the Islamophobia, but I wanted to learn more about the religion so many were being hateful about.
The course was taught by a highly respected local Imam and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The religion of Islam is beautiful. Just like any religion, you have whackos who use it as an excuse to perpetuate hate and violence, but REAL Islam is peaceful and centered around family and service and discipline. Iām an atheist, but have so much respect for people of all faiths. I with more people would open their hearts and minds.
Every religion I know much about has problems (usually the same ones), and pretty much all of them get used for hateful or greedy purposes, but most of the Muslims I've met have been nothing but helpful to me. The ones who aren't fundamentalists usually hate the violent fundamentalists, too. They've hurt other Muslims more than they've hurt anyone else.
Did my DNA test and it came up with a lot of Germanic Jews, so I excuse my love of the food by way of that. "Leaning into my Midde Eastern roots," is what I say.
Gimme all the M.E. and African foods, especially Ethiopian!
Ain't that the truth. I don't know a damn person who used that whole "Muslims are dancing in the streets!" shtick media was pushing on us. Everyone in New York was just distraught point blank. My friends out in Jersey to this day have ptsd from watching the towers collapse across the Hudson as teenagers in high school. Of course goes without saying for my friends in Manhattan too. Those of us in the outer boroughs and on LI felt in all in different ways. Most of us I grew up with had a parent or adult relative impacted. One of my best friend's dad died 5 years and 32 days ago from 9/11 related brain cancer from his duties as the immediate clean up crew. Whoever the fuck is and was using this day as a chance to pull this islamophobic shit is a schmuck and we all know it
ETA: omfg lmaoooo my flair. I did not plan this I promise you all
Half the bodegas these days are owned by Yemeni immigrants. How are you gonna hate the guy that makes you a delicious chopped cheese and calls you habibi?
born and bred NYC. 9/11 was the most terrifying day of my life and I still haven't been able to process fully.
but NYC came together in love and support for each other in the hours after the attack and i am so grateful to have been witness on such a dark day to the very best humanity has to offer.
it kills me how it was used to start a war, used as an excuse for so much hate and bigotry.
Garry McCarthy, the former police chief, was on the news this morning, going on about how here in Illinois governors and mayors respect people when they ask them to not attend events, and how insulting it was that he was going. He then went on about Islam and how horrible it is. His racism and bigotry were clear.
A wonderful human. It would have been so easy for him to turn the pain of growing up without a father into a vessel of hate and bigotry and instead he's become a voice for those who are unfairly exploited by this attack. Huge respect for this man.
It also means more coming from him. Celebs say a lot of shit that doesnāt always land authentically. This kid has more reasons than anyone to slip into hate and he refuses to. I hope this speech made those that use this tragedy to spread hate feel really small today.
Normally you'd be right, but in today's political climate. I can totally see them going after this guy for this, rational thinking and reason is dead they killed it.
Oh the people who do this aren't going to give up because the victims asked. The families of victims that conservatives use to farm hate almost always say "please don't do that" and they do it anyways.
I can't remember the name but there was one where a lady was murdered and her dad was damn near begging people to stop trying to use her death to incite hatred.
Really beautiful from him to have such a prospective and use his time so well to get his message out. This poor man lost his father as a boy and got robbed from that experience. I would have been so proud of my boy if he turned out like that
Not a Bush fan, but even Bush went to the Islamic Center of Washington after 9/11 to address reports of violence against Muslims. He declared that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks did not represent the true faith of Islam, emphasizing that "Islam is peace". He also warned against the intimidation of Muslim Americans, stating that harassment of women wearing head coverings does not reflect American values.
While not speaking about Islam directly (namely because the woman in the video is too much of a bigot to differentiate between being "an Arab" and Muslim) John McCain also directly confronted similar rhetoric.
I hate how good Trump makes the old Republican guard look in hindsight. Bush was a war criminal, and John McCain wanted to be one so bad. But they at the very least knew how to stand up for the basic American principles of tolerance when it mattered.
I just watched it again and your quote is a little inaccurate. The woman says "I can't trust Obama, I have read about him and he's...he's an Arab." And then McCain takes the mic and says "No ma'am...he's a decent family man..." So he didn't explicitly say "He's not an Arab, he's a good man."
But I do agree with your larger point and think the implication was there. I've always felt people were giving McCain too much credit for that comment. Maybe he did mean to defend Arabs there and he tripped over his words a bit, but very little Republicans do deserve the benefit of the doubt. But I do think McCain was more principled than your average GOP politician, especially these days.
Stuff like this and USAID is why I never believe the narrative that this country is drifting to the left. Bush was the right wing candidate when he ran in the primary in 2000. And now? He looks damn right reasonable.
OK, maybe not reasonable. But he would be mocked for having TDS by the current right.
"I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally."
Ronald Reagan, 1984, presidential debate
He also followed up on that
Following through on his election-cycle rhetoric, Reagan signed the bipartisan Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986. This act granted amnesty and a path to citizenship to roughly 2.7 to 3 million undocumented immigrants who had lived in the U.S. since before January 1, 1982.
He started to EPA to impose a national standard because the corporations were whining that different states had their own regulations and the difference was fucking up with their bottom line.
So he made the EPA to make a national standard and impose lower requirements globally instead of some states having higher standards
Honestly it's hard to read that as anything other than disingenuous posturing knowing Bush went on to wage a war that killed a million Iraqis. That man does not care about Muslim life.
There were many Muslims that absolutely hated what happened on 9/11 and were heartbroken by it and they thought what Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda did that day was beyond evil and just made all Muslims look bad but the truth is not all Muslims are bad or as evil as the terrorists during 9/11 and I just absolutely hate that some people just canāt understand that and they believe Muslim equals bad when not all Muslims are like that and thereās plenty of good Muslim people. People really need to grow tf up.Ā
He had his head bowed in shame after the handshake, and the official next to him was shitting his pants, as discreetly as possible during the handshake. Kind of weird to not see that meme'd already
Dude like 9-10 years ago when working at the Apple Store, we had to help this moron use his own phone. Then he just bought a new one bc he forgot his password and was pissy about the phone "not working". We just sent him on his way with a new device like lmfao good luck girl trying to figure out your password bc a new phone doesn't fix that... Surprised this loser has enough cognitive ability to even speak anymore
This made me so fucking emotional. He said what so many of us have been saying for the past 25 years. So many of us grew up being told to treat everyone equally. That horrible day, 25 years ago...so many of us (across the entire nation) saw that belief thrown out the window. It shaped the childhood we had, our relationships with our families. This is the day so many of us lost our innocence.
Honestly me too. I just got real sad watching this. Maybe its the look on his face. Maybe its that he shouldnt have to make this statement, but he did. And that shows some serious courage.
But its so unfair to him that he has to even say this. And so unfair that he had to lose a parent. Just sad
It takes some actual thinking to live this way, and the right would rather just take the easy way out and label all others ābad.ā Theyāre lazy and stupid.
Something tells me the media will spend 0 minutes showing people like this, but spend hours showing islamophobic people on the other side demanding that Mamdani doesnāt go to the 9/11 memorial and saying that Mamdani did 9/11.
they're talking about a very short clip of AOC showing up to the memorial and greeting mamdani, and them briefly laughing as they said hello. that's it. a short clip probably taken out of context that they think he should be removed from office for
MSM is covering this message. Michael Massaroli Jr speaking at the 25 Anniversary of 9/11 is being reported or running on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, on YOUTube, Facebook, CSPAN, Yahoo, Threads, Reddit, Instagram. Mostly by video of him speaking. A couple are news articles with links. I will update when I have time. https://www.threads.com/@ny1/post/DdJ9AL6An2q/media
I was watching this live all day and it was a magafest (Iām from nj so I know thatās how it goes but i still donāt like it lol). Some lady finished honoring her uncle to shout out JD Vance and to pray for him. Another lady said Trump was our only hope. Some guy said the deep state hid secrets and this administration will bring all the evil to light (bro have u heard of the Epstein files). Pretty bleak but Michael jr. was an extremely unexpected and uplifting tribute. Even more perfect that he was the last to speak. So many people mentioned how unified we were right after 9/11 and I was like ??? Ask a Muslim New Yorker what they think about that.
Michael on the off chance you are reading this you are a legend and no one can dispute that your father would be so proud. A day about your father yet you still took the time to simultaneously make it about the wellbeing of a group who are too often punished for what happened on this horrible day. That minute you spoke was more than weāve heard from celebrities with true āplatformsā and of course more than weāve heard from some of our own politicians who fan the flames of this Islamophobia. Thank you for actually using this day to promote unity, peace, and freedom.
Thinking this administration is going to bring anything to light is fucking delusionalā¦Trumpās been president for almost 2 years into his second term. When do you think heās going to do this? Were those deep state secrets the ones he hid in the boxes in a bathroom at Mar a Lago after his first term? Christ, I feel like I live in a completely different reality from these people..
You got all these people getting all pissy and talking shit saying how 9/11 this and that, and you know what? Their experience was "IT WAS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE WATCHING IT ON TV"
Like, fuck off.
I went to HS across the street (stuy). My sister worked in the North Tower (she evacuated). My parents thought we were both dead because there was no contact that day and none of us were able to get back to our apartment until 11PM that night because of all the lockdowns.
I watched the towers come down. I literally had to run for my life.
My mom got lung cancer a couple years ago (luckily caught early, and she's fine). Don't know if it's related to 9/11, but we did live 8 blocks away.
And guess what? I voted for Mamdani. My entire family did. Not a single person I grew up with in FUCKING NYC is islamophobic. Not a single one.
Karen from Kentucky and Roger from West Virginia need to fuck right off.
Rural areas: smaller thought pool; insulated opinions, low diversity. They are afraid of what they do not understand and caught up in narratives perpetuated by mostly far right talking points.
There's just better understanding of other people's cultures in bigger cities. Rural areas didn't grow up with a lot of different things around them. It's unfortunate how close minded people are.
I'm sorry for everything you have gone through on this day. š§”
You got all these people getting all pissy and talking shit saying how 9/11 this and that, and you know what? Their experience was "IT WAS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE WATCHING IT ON TV"
I was thinking this very think while watching it. 2977 lives were lost on 9/11. I'm sure there is a large amount of families that were directly affected and that 2977 is an exponential factor when you talk about the families and friends who lost people, but it can not be understated how much hate comes from individuals who didn't lose a single thing on 9/11 but gain ridiculous amounts of positive press and attention after it by pretending to be a victim.
9/11 would feel a lot more solemn if we had more victims coming out and say this exact thing rather than randoms utilize the atrocities to justify even worse atrocities.
I grew up in Philly and live in Arizona now. The insane amount of people here who spend all day shitting on NYC as a liberal-socialist hellscape where murder is the only thing on the menu.... and then one day a year act like they, personally, were attacked is fucking wild. I lost my uncle that day. He commuted from Allentown PA and died trying to escape WTC1 before it collapsed on him. It makes me want to actually physically hit them when I see the right wing folks at work act like today is their day to remember how sad it was that they had to see it on TV.
I watch the news every morning (in canada lol) and this morning they showed the memorial. It was crazy that for the 10 mins I watched, it was this blonde lady just saying itās Saudi Arabiaās fault, how they never apologized and going off about the country. I was likeā¦ THIS is supposed to be a memorial? Ranting about another country?
I saw that too (watching in Scotland) and was just baffled that 1) she used this day, a day for remembering loved ones that tragically and brutally died to rant and rave about Saudi Arabia (to applause I may add) and 2) that the news outlets/filming didnāt cut to the next person.
I was moved by Michael and I hope he knows how wonderfully he summed up what is meant to be a day of remembrance for all of those that died from all walks of life, lots of different nationalities also. Iām sure his mum was bursting with pride for him!
I want to understand her but itās hard. I am well aware of the ties to Saudi Arabia that 9/11 has and I can understand her frustration that the connections have been completely ignored.
But I have never once heard her say ālook at how we destroyed Afghanistan and Iraq instead of following the ties to Saudi Arabiaā Iāve never heard her outraged about the absolute inhumane treatment and torture of Afghan farmers at Guantanamo Bay.
I understand wanting to put the blame on the right people but maybe have some compassion for all of the lives we took in Afghanistan and Iraq for absolutely no reason?
100%. I live in Staten Island, and I avoid using "Never Forget" because of its negative connotation here. Pure hate and revenge. I don't want to be associated with that!
It's crazy how quickly everyone turned on Muslims after 9/11. I always have to remind people Muslims were in the twin towers as well, they were also killed that day. You don't hold something like the OKC bombing against all white people.
It still goes on today. People who are 100% anti trump and anti ICE have no problem with Palestinian people being literally genocided because they don't see Muslims, even Muslim children, as humans.
For anyone who wants to understand more about what led to 9/11, I highly recommend the Pulitzer-prize winning book The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. There's also a miniseries based on it, but as I understand it, the series focuses more on the American intelligence side of things, which is only a fraction of the book's focus.
The book really illuminates some things that I think most people don't know about:
Bin Laden was a self-aggrandizing idiot. He made major, obvious tactical errors as a military leader in the Soviet-Afghanistan war that led to major setbacks for his side. He found a way to brag about them as if they were major successes.
His main reason for hating the US was petty and delusional: When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 with an eye on invading Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden, then a prominent Saudi nepo baby, demanded to be in charge of Saudi's defense in repelling the invasion. The Saudi government said "no thanks" and instead allied with the US. This infuriated Bin Laden and turned him against his home country and its ally.
Bin Laden's motivations, and really his whole life, is all so incredibly and infuriatingly senseless and stupid.
One other thing from the book haunts me to this day (trigger warning for sexual assault):
Egypt's Mubarak regime, an ally of the US and an enemy of Al Qaeda, had their intelligence operatives kidnap boys, drug them, sexually assault them, and use videos of the rape to blackmail them into spying on terrorist groups.
I can't believe those people really thought it was reasonable to say out loud "can you please not come, youre brown and we're scared of brown people š„ŗ"
He joked that when people would ask about his dad dying in 9/11 he would retort with "Yeah. He was one of the pilots," just to see people's reactions. Awesome dude with some incredible words here.
Meanwhile in Colombian media, they call a survivor of 911 called William Jimeno
Everything goes well with the interview, all positive and shit, until the dude starts saying āIslam is a religion that brings no good, not like us catholics, Islam brings the world no good, even saudi arabia and egypt do not let Islam in for a good reason, because there is nothing good in the koranā
It's weird how much christians demonize Islam while ignoring that christianity objectively is and has been for 500+ years the greatest destructive ideology in the world.
Christian extremism is statistically more dangerous than any other ideology, but there's never any introspection. Like how intolerance of lgbtq in a Muslim nation is reason to bomb and kill as many children as possible, by christians who hold those very same beliefs.
Hopefully the world can start addressing christian extremism the same way islamic extremism is, or christian terrorists will cause another world war.
All of the Abrahamic religions are vile, but its beyond hypocritical to hear followers of the most dangerous and deadly ideology say that Judaism and Islam are more dangerous christianity, when facts and reality say otherwise.
Holy shit. Think I held it together right until he rang that bell. Had the honor to attend the one year memorial as well as the ten year memorial at ground zero. This breaks me for so many reasons but mostly because of how incredible this man here is. Others have said it but way to go Michael Jr. Absolute legend.
See how easy it was. He was given 1 minute of time and he used for positivity and inclusion. It takes so much more energy to be hateful and fearful 24/7.
There is no rationalizing with bigoted monsters. They were attacking Sikh and Hindu temples and community centers following 9/11. They were shutting down radio stations from opposing branches of Islam who were critical of not only the attackers but their supporters.
They just want to feel strong because they are cowardly bullies who can't accomplish anything on their own.
To be fair, 9/11 has been used to spread Muslim hate almost from the start. I recall in the weeks after the attacks that Sikhs were being attacked because they wear turbans.
He's right that the events of that day should not foment Muslim hate and it's a shame that it does.
Bless this man, just by looking at him we can't be that different in age, and I can't imagine what it'd be like growing up after 9/11 (I was in kindergarten) after my parent gave the ultimate sacrifice trying to protect many and it is absolutely appalling the political nature and hate that has come out of 9/11 especially 25 years later.
I donāt understand people who burn bridges instead of working with all humanity to build bridges together and ensure wars and tragedies cease to exist
I know people around the world do not like americans right now. this is who we are. right here. it's a dark time but we will come back together in time.
ā¢
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