Correction Appended: A previous version of this article said ISIS attacked the US in 9/11, the current story replaced that with Al-Queda.
The Contemporary History Institute sponsored an “Israel’s 9/11” panel hosted by Ohio University on Thursday, which sparked disagreement among students and Athens citizenry in attendance.
Alec Holcombe, director of the Contemporary History Institute, commenced the meeting by introducing the speaker, Ohio State University’s Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History, Peter Mansoor. Mansoor is also a retired U.S. Army Colonel.
About 50-60 students, staff and citizens arrived at Bentley Hall, Room 136, to hear the talk.
The title, “Israel’s 9/11,” is an emphasis on what present-day Israel can learn from America’s experience after the attacks of Al-Qaeda
on Sept. 11, 2001, Mansoor said. He said Israel can learn a lot from America’s failures in the Middle East.
Mansoor introduced Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic political-military group, and its history. He furthered his lecture with information on the attack on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups … launched a surprise attack against Israel,” Mansoor said. “It was a massive intelligence failure.”
Comparing that to the 9/11 attacks, Mansoor said Hamas is similar to ISIS in the situation, and Israel is the U.S.
“People in the United States and the West know what ISIS is; they're not as familiar with Hamas,” Mansoor said. “The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, compared the attack to the toppling of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon in 2001, declaring this is Israel's 9/11.”
Mansoor opened the floor for questions after his lecture, which sparked debate.
One person had questioned Mansoor on his facts that Israel had a “widespread pattern of sexual assaults.” That person said information came out from the New York Times and since then has been taken down.
Another had a question about why Mansoor does not believe the ongoings in Gaza are a genocide.
“Genocide is defined as the deliberate targeting of a people to kill them all,” Mansoor replied. “That’s not what’s happening in Gaza.”
An outburst of disagreements filled the room from Mansoor’s reply to the person's question.
"That is what is happening, actually,” one person said. “They are bombing libraries; they are bombing schools.”
Mansoor said everyone will agree to disagree about what is happening.
For the entirety of the meeting, a small group of people held up a banner in the back of the room that read “Ceasefire Now.” The people holding the sign refused to comment.
The group who had held up the banner also passed out papers to people in attendance. The papers read “Missing pieces of the Palestinian narrative” with a picture of a child’s blood-covered hand, a take-action paper to reach out to representatives, and a placard for a rally titled “Free Palestine” that is happening Friday at 6 p.m. outside the Athens County Courthouse.
