NEWS PROVIDED BY
Catholic League
Sept. 11, 2026
NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — The following is submitted by Bill Donohue, President, Catholic League:
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has a column in today’s New York Post titled, “How We Make Good on ‘Never Forget.’” It is a fine example of the conventional assessment of what happened 25 years ago today, showing great sensitivity to New Yorkers who suffered that day. It is also seriously incomplete: she never mentions who was responsible and why they attacked us.
Hochul is not alone. The media are flush with discussions about how the events of 9/11 changed the lives of Americans. We are told, over and over again, to “Never Forget.” This refrain is cheapened, however, if it is designed to have us forget why 9/11 happened.
It is not a mystery why we were attacked. The FBI found a four-page note left by one of the 9/11 masterminds, Mohamed Atta, in his baggage. [His suitcase did not make it onto the flight he hijacked because his flight from Portland, Maine to Boston was delayed.]
His handwritten letter, written in Arabic, offers a rare glimpse of what was going through his mind when preparing for the attack. He wrote it as a guidebook for the hijackers. Here is a sample from what he titled, “The Last Night.”
• Making an oath to die and renew your intentions.
• Read al-Tawba and Anfal [warlike passages of the Quran] and reflect on their meaning and remember all the things God has promised for the martyrs.
• Pray during the night and be persistent in asking God to give you victory, control and conquest, and that He may make your task easier and not expose us.
• When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, “Allahu Akbar,” because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers. God said, “Strike above the neck, and strike at all their extremities.” Know that the gardens of paradise are waiting for you in all their beauty, and the women of paradise are waiting, calling out, “Come hither, friend of God.” They have dressed in their most beautiful clothing.
• Either end your life while praying, seconds before the target, or make your last words: “There is no God but God, Muhammad is His messenger.”
• Afterwards, we will all meet in the highest heaven, God willing.
We are being intellectually dishonest if we don’t acknowledge what is the undeniable truth: Radical Muslims attacked the United States on 9/11. It was not an accident. This is why it is so outrageous to say that “planes” hit the Twin Towers—it was planes driven by radical Muslims who murdered us in the name of their religion.
Those who refuse to state that radical Muslims are to blame are too often the same people who do not hesitate to collectivize guilt by blaming all Trump supporters for what happened on January 6th, branding all of them fascists. The same people were also quick to collectivize guilt by calling all priests “perverts” and “pedophiles” because a tiny minority were molesters. But when it comes to who was to blame for 9/11, they go out of their way not to offend Muslims by refusing to call out the extremists in their ranks.
A doctor who makes the wrong diagnosis may wind up killing his patient. It is just as deadly to assess 9/11 without ever acknowledging who was responsible and why.
SOURCE Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
CONTACT: 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org