Janine di Giovanni is executive director at The Reckoning Project and a columnist for The National
September 10, 2021
Shortly after 3 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was walking down Rue Saint-Antoine in Paris when my brand-new Nokia flip phone rang. It was a reporter friend from National Public Radio, and she was panicking.“What I am about to tell you is not George Orwell,” she said. “But two planes just crashed into the World Trade Centre.”My mood – which had been one of joyous relief as I was taking a 6-month sabbatical from my job – shifted to panic as well. I found a bar near Place des Vosges with a television set, ordered a drink and with horror watched the images of lower Manhattan on the screen. Shortly after, I took a cab in tears to the American Embassy on the Avenue Gabriel. There were already crowds of people there, placing bouquets of flowers at the gates.
What I remember next is something I have never experienced again, not in France, not anywhere in the world: a moment of global human solidarity.
“Nous sommes tous Américains,” and old man said to me in a church where I sought solace. Other older people told me stories of the liberation of France, how they remembered the kindness of American soldiers who had come from Normandy. It was the first time I experienced pro-American sentiment in France.A few days later, I was on a plane to Moscow. Some days after that, on a small plane to Dushanbe, then I joined a flat raft crossing the Amu Darya Oxus River into Taliban-held Afghanistan.On the other side of the river were US-backed Northern Alliance fighters who were working their way to Kabul. I thought it would take us a few days; it took months. But by November, my colleagues and I were walking into a new Kabul: the Taliban had fallen. By December, I was in Tora Bora, where US forces were dropping Daisy Cutter bombs to root Osama in Laden out of his cave.
After 9/11, nothing was ever the same. Not America, that was grievously, mortally wounded; not politics, not wars. Everything following that day would be seen through the lens of terrorism and fatal attacks. When I finally got back to America the following summer – by then I was based more or less in Baghdad, waiting for the fall of Saddam Hussein – I spent time in Middletown, New Jersey, a lovely, normally sleepy river town where 37 residents had died in the Twin Towers, the second hardest-hit community after New York City.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 weeks after Al Qaeda mounted terrorist attacks on American soil. Reuters
Pedestrians and police run as a tower of the World Trade Center collapses, after two planes crashed into the complex destroying New York's twin towers on September 11, 2001. Reuters
Many of the residents worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment bank that took the greatest hit, losing 658 employees that terrible day. Many residents of Middletown, and Rumson, and Red Bank, surrounding towns, were investment bankers who took a ferry from nearby Highlands to reach their offices on Wall Street.
My family lived near Red Bank. I had spent childhood summers on the beautiful beaches, on the horse farms, apple picking or walking near the peaceful Shrewsbury River. Now, far from that idyll, I was assigned to talk to survivors and the families of those who had died. What I remember most – aside from the tears that I shed talking to shell-shocked new mothers who had kissed their husbands goodbye in the morning never to see them again – was the sense that “it’s just not normal to die in a terrorist attack.” Commuter parking lots were full of cars of people from the Bayshore Area who never came home. Writing the story of Middletown, NJ, tracing through the lives of those who died on that day was one of the most painful stories I ever reported. America is not my usual beat, and it was hard to see my country as a war zone, or a country so badly afflicted with sorrow.
A few years later, I wrote another piece about a small town in Maine, where recruitment for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was especially high, and where many of these young men – some teenagers – died far from home. They had joined the armed forces because their towns were impoverished once the paper mills, the sources of revenue, had closed down. I remember going to an unbearably sad flag raising with the father of one of the young soldiers, who cried: “They died because of 9/11.”Everything changed after 9/11. Before 9/11 you waltzed up to an airline gate, got on a plane (and in my case, lit a cigarette once you took your seat in the smoking section). Before 9/11, people died tragically, but rarely in terrorist attacks.
September 11 lit off a series of attacks that then followed, and emboldened terrorist groups around the world. Prior to that, terrorist attacks seemed remote, far away, even previous Al Qaeda strikes – US Embassies in 1998, USS Cole in 2000, even the World Trade Centers in 1993. Something died on September 11, 2001, aside from 2,996 souls – the belief that America was invincible.
The wars I reported in the 1990s, largely in Africa and the Balkans, were rooted in the end of the Cold War or had echoes of imperialism or colonial roots. They were about old grievances, tribal battles, ethnic tensions and hatred. The wars I reported post-9/11 were largely about eradicating terrorism or the rise of terror groups. Even Syria, which started out as a cry for freedom from a brutal regime, descended into a battleground for ISIS, Al Nusra, Hayat Tahrir Al Shams and others.
Which brings me back to the Afghanistan departure in 2021, which has raised countless issues about the future of America’s foreign policy. The departure from Afghanistan and the 9/11 commemoration is a stark reminder of where we are in America today. In the initial months after the tragedy, Americans came together in sadness and patriotism. Today, we have never been as divided as we are – by the Donald Trump years, by the pandemic, by the decision to mask or not to mask, to get a vaccine or to remain unprotected. By the decision to reverse women’s reproductive freedom in Texas, or by the massive political divides over red/blue states.
Some Americans don’t remember 9/11 – they were too young. A recent Pew report says 93 per cent of Americans over 30 know exactly where they were when it happened. At Yale, most of the students I teach were not even born. They know the enduring legacy of 9/11, but it is hard for them to imagine the emotion of that day. For others, it remains a day when American foreign policy shifted forever.
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Red flags
Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
