(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party or candidate on the part of Newsmax.)
Never Forget Means Never Excusing Terror:
NY's Mayoral Candidates Must Take a Stand
New Yorkers know what it means to live with scars. Our city, just shy of a quarter of a century ago was turned into the frontline of a war terror.
On Sept. 11, 2001, the skyline was filled with smoke, the streets with ash, and our hearts with grief.
Nearly 3,000 lives were taken in a single morning.
Families were shattered, neighborhoods forever changed, and a generation grew up under the shadow of an attack reminding the world what evil looks like.
We promised then that we would never forget.
But promises mean nothing, if they are not kept alive — and in New York today, too many are willing to look the other way.
Gotham now enters another mayoral race. As it does so, the stakes could not be higher, even frightening.
Leaving every voter, every survivor, and every family who lost a loved one on 9/11 to be asking one very clear question . . .
Where do these candidates stand on terror?!
This not an abstract question. Not in the least.
Terror is not a relic of the past.
It mutates and evolves — whether through foreign regimes funding extremism abroad or domestic groups and individuals who glorify hatred here at home.
New York remains a target, not just for those who despise America, but for those who wish to rewrite history and excuse its atrocities.
The leading Democratic candidate for mayor has a moral responsibility to speak with clarity. Yet, we hear the opposite: silence, hedging, or pandering to radical voices.
The leading candidate eager to denounce Israel — our ally in the fight against terrorism — can't summon the same courage to denounce Hamas, Hezbollah, or the ideology which drove planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan.
Hoping voters won't notice his refusal to take a firm stand.
New Yorkers must notice. Because silence is not neutral. Silence is consent, the voice of complicity.
The Bottom Line?
All contenders wishing to be mayor must be asked, directly and publicly:
- Do you unequivocally condemn Hamas, Hezbollah, and all terror organizations?
- Do you stand with Israel, the United States, and the fight against extremism?
- Will you ensure that New York City never becomes a safe-haven for terror sympathizers or apologists?
If they can't answer those questions with a resounding "Yes!" they've disqualified themselves from leading the city that knows the cost of terror more than any other.
New York can't afford a mayor who equivocates on the very threat which has defined our modern history. We can't honor the memories of those we lost on 9/11, by electing leaders who refuse to face terrorism's reality today.
This isn't a partisan issue.
It's not about left or right, Democrat or Republican.
It's absolutely about moral clarity versus moral confusion.
It's about whether we choose leaders who remember the smoke, the ash, the funerals — and understand that those images are not just history, but warning signs.
The next mayor will inherit a city still battling crime, antisemitism, and extremism in our streets. If they can't speak honestly about the fight against terror, how can we trust them to keep our city safe?
If they can't declare "Never Again!" and mean it, then New Yorkers must shout "Never Again!" directly to their candidacy.
We owe it to the firefighters who ran into the twin towers, the police officers who never came home, the families who grieve every day, and the generations who will inherit this city.
To forget 9/11 is to betray them.
To excuse terror is to embolden it.
The Democratic vote is a test — not just of the candidates, but of us as New Yorkers.
Will we demand clarity, or will we accept equivocation?
Will we honor our promise to never forget, or will we allow forgetfulness to become the ally of terror?
The answer must be clarion in its volume.
On 9/11 we said we would never forget.
This election, it's time to prove it.
We owe it to those who perished and to all New Yorkers and most of all to protect the next generation.
We owe it to the world.
Duvi Honig is founder and CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, a global umbrella of businesses of all sizes, bridging the highest echelons of the business and governmental worlds together, stimulating economic opportunity and positively affecting governments' public policies. His work has been recognized by both Presidents Obama and Trump. Read Duvi Honig's Reports — More Here.
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