Dear editor:
Friday marked 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States and destroyed the World Trade Center towers, killing thousands of innocent people.
It was an attack not only on America, but on the values of the free world: democracy, freedom, tolerance and the right of people to live their lives without fear.
On Sept. 12, I went to the open house of the Clayfield Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake. In front of the hotel was our farmers’ market. People were walking around, talking, shopping, meeting friends and enjoying a beautiful day in a peaceful community.
As I looked at this ordinary scene, I could not help thinking about the extraordinary contrast.
This is what democracy looks like.
People of different backgrounds living freely. Businesses opening their doors. Farmers selling what they grow. Families enjoying their communities. People having the freedom to speak, worship, work and live their lives as they choose.
Twenty-five years after Sept. 11, we should ask ourselves what we are willing to defend.
There is a fundamental choice before every generation: democracy or extremism; freedom or oppression; tolerance or hatred; peaceful coexistence or violence.
Extremism does not always announce itself with an attack. It can begin with hatred, dehumanization, intolerance and the acceptance of violence against people who are different from us. When societies become silent in the face of such ideas, they risk allowing them to grow.
We must remember the victims of Sept. 11 — not only with ceremonies and words, but by defending the freedoms for which they lost their lives.
Our children and grandchildren deserve to inherit a world where people can gather in a farmers’ market, open a business, practice their faith, raise their families and disagree with one another without fear of violence.
That peaceful scene in Niagara-on-the-Lake today reminded me of what is truly at stake.
We have a choice. We can stand with democracy and the free world, or we can stand by while extremism and hatred grow.
History will judge the choices we make.
Let us be on the right side of history.
And let us never forget Sept. 11, 2001.
Veronica Balaj
NOTL
