Five years ago members of our families became civilian casualties of terrorism. We grieved their loss and were collectively seized by an overwhelming desire to spare other families, in any part of the world, the suffering we were experiencing.

We expressed those desires and heard from others who saw us as kindred spirits. They were from Israel and Palestine, Japan, Northern Ireland and South Africa. Each having suffered similar losses-from terrorism of war, from atomic weapons, even from the terrorism of state-sponsored violence against their very own.

Hearing from them we were reminded we are not alone. We also learned on that day that the deaths of our family members, although unique to us, were far from unique in human history. Innocent people dying. Families torn apart. Traditions and histories cut short. At that single moment in time we came to see our losses in a bigger context, one that cuts across national boundaries and confines of time.

From those who reached out to us after 9/11, we developed a sense of responsibility to all those who suffered as the result of 9/11; immigrants and other people perceived to be terrorists, targeted by hate crimes and hateful legislation; those who suffered in terrorist attacks, in train bombings, and under the terror of war.

Today, five years later, we are in the midst of the pain we have created by the choices we made since. The world is less safe, less humane. Where we saw children in mortal danger from unexploded cluster bombs in Afghanistan, we now see children in mortal danger from cluster bombs in Lebanon. Where we saw the brutality and the inhumanity of Saddam Hussein, we now see the same brutality and inhumanity occurring under U.S. Occupation, in Fallujah, in Haditah, in Abu Ghraib.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it…Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." This is the heart of the sadness of our reality.

The hope we felt from those who reached out to us - those who had, like us, been touched by terrorism, violence, war, continues to resonate. These people, who have been so deeply affected by loss, have a wisdom from which we continue to benefit. It is their wisdom, their strength, and their stories that have kept us going. And it is their wisdom, their strength, and their stories that we hope to share.

Over this past year, Freedom House has housed over 296 people from around the world who have been personally affected by terrorism, violence, and war and have chosen to break the cycle of violence.

As we did five years ago, let us continue to do today-stand in solidarity with ordinary people whose lives have been permanently imprinted by violence. Let us continue the Freedom House pledge of transformation of pain to promise, from fear to fellowship. Martin Luther King, Jr. identified the choice as being chaos or community. We have seen enough chaos. Let us continue the work of Freedom House by creating community with our counterparts from around the world, and continue to create a more peaceful world for everyone.

I am honored to be at Freedom House.

Peace,

Pegg Roberts
Executive Director