Danke!

With quiet confidence, Mr. Robertson replied that
the WTC had been designed with a substantial
reserve of strength to withstand assaults on its
integrity. Specifically, he said that its
designers had built it so that it would survive
the impact of what was then the largest commercial
aircraft in the world, a Boeing 707 jetliner.

His words, translated by me into German, were
transmitted by wireless infrared to scores of
German speakers in the audience listening through
their portable headsets, some of whom nodded in
assent.

That was on September 7. I was in a funk after the
conference. One of the organizers had approached
me at the end and expressed his dissatisfaction
with my performance, something that had never
happened to me before. There was something about
his anger that was inexplicable. It seemed out of
proportion to any reasonable complaint. My
colleague defended me but the man was implacable.
Something seemed to be in the air, something that
was making people edgy and aggressive.

Dies habe ich nicht verstanden.

Wir haben uns sehr daran gewöhnt, in einer
zivilisierten Welt als gleichberechtigte behandelt
zu werden. Die Möglichkeit, weiterhin von Pogromen
oder größeren Vernichtungsaktionen bedroht zu
werden, scheint vielen von uns fern.
Man muß sich von der Illusion dieser sehr kurzen
Periode der jüdischen Geschichte befreien.

Würde Israel heute zerstört, wäre bei weitem noch
nicht die Zahl der Shoah Opfer erreicht