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Ambassador’s Remarks at the Opening of the
Joel Meyerowitz exhibit entitled
“After September 11: Images from Ground Zero”

Nicosia Fulbright Center
March 5, 2003

Welcome. I want to thank you for coming to the opening of Joel Meyerowitz’s exhibit “After September 11: Images from Ground Zero”.

I would like to thank the Cyprus Photographic Society, Nicosia Branch, for their support in co-sponsoring this exhibit. A warm welcome to members of the Photographic Study Group. Thank you for your valuable help.

It has been almost eighteen months now since the world reacted in horror as terrorists crashed passenger aircraft into the World Trade Center and killed thousands of innocent people.

Those terrorist attacks shattered the calm of a warm, sun-splashed autumn morning in New York City. They turned day into night. The collapse of the twin towers shook the city and it shook the world.

Today’s exhibit is a memorial to our efforts to overcome those attacks, to the heroism of rescue workers who responded to those attacks and to the unity of people around the world who found in their collective horror a common determination to stop such attacks.

For many the tragedy was personal. America and Americans suffered a great loss. But we were not alone in our grief. The lives of thousands of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children from scores of nations, from many different faiths and from the four corners of our world were shattered September 11. Cyprus felt the impact directly with the loss of Cypriot-American Michael Tarou.

For anyone who lost citizens on September 11, the wave of sympathy that circled the globe those days provided much comfort. I was in Hong Kong at the time: the U.S. Consulate was enveloped with flowers, candles, letters, visits, and calls from well-wishers. I know from my colleagues in the American Embassy, there was a similar outpouring of support here as well. The world was brought closer together by this tragedy.

A year and a half has now gone by. We have not forgotten those who died. Just last week the agency overseeing the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site announced its decisions. Among the many things planned for the site is a memorial that will help us always remember the people who lost their lives on September 11.

This exhibit by Joel Meyerowitz, which you came to view tonight, is also a memorial.

The photos of this master photographer convey dramatically the magnitude of the destruction and loss and the heroic response of so many rescue personnel who put themselves in harm’s way to save others.

For those of you seeing his work for the first time, Joel Meyerowitz is an award-winning photographer. His work is displayed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. His photographs are also found in many other public and private collections.

Just a few days after the attacks, the Museum of the City of New York asked Mr. Meyerowitz to create a photographic record of Ground Zero. Mr. Meyerowitz was given unprecedented access to the site from right after the attack through the search and recovery phases. The photographic record that resulted from his work will become the 9/11 Photographic Archive. When completed, this archive will hold more than 5,000 images and will be part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York. In the coming years it will be available for research, exhibition and publication.

Joel Meyerowitz’s photographs have a strong impact. Working with the Museum of the City of New York and Mr. Meyerowitz, the U.S. State Department put together a special exhibition of images to be shared with international audiences. Exhibits like this one are traveling around the world, allowing millions of people to experience first-hand the impact of September 11. The collection portrays the catastrophic destruction wrought by the terrorist attacks, documents the recovery efforts, and highlights the threat terrorism poses to us all.

The September 11 attacks were an assault on the fundamental human values that bind people around the globe together. It may have been buildings in New York and Washington that were struck, but the world quickly recognized that terrorism attacked the foundations of our international community.

In the eighteen months since the attack, it is clear that the international community has not been intimidated by those acts of hatred and intolerance. Far from succumbing to fear and division on which terrorists seek to prey, we are more resolved and more united than ever to defeat this international challenge.

Much has been accomplished over the past year and a half: Afghanistan, long a haven for international terrorists, is no longer under their control. International efforts are helping that country get back on its feet. Worldwide, over three thousand terrorist suspects have been detained in over 100 countries. Over 165 countries have blocking orders in force against terrorist assets. But more needs to be done. No country can afford to mount less than an all-out effort.

As we contemplate Joel Meyerowitz’s photos tonight let us honor the memory of those who lost their lives in this attack. And as we honor their memory, let us recommit ourselves to our most basic values and renew our resolve to triumph against the forces of evil. The future belongs not to terrorists, but to those who dream of the freedom to live together in a peaceful, prosperous and democratic world.