Dutch ministers honor 9/11 attacks at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague

Dutch ministers and other dignitaries commemorated the Sept. 11, 2021, attacks Friday at the U.S. Embassy in the Hague. Joe Popolo, the U.S. Ambassodor to the Netherlands, expressed appreciation for the solidarity the Dutch showed at the time.

Jihadists carried out the 2001 attack in the United States with hijacked airplanes, killing nearly 3,000 people. "Twenty-five years ago, America and the world changed forever," Ambassador Popolo said. “We honor the fallen by serving the living, cherishing our allies, and remembering that courage and solidarity brought us together in our darkest hour.”

Dutch Defense Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz and Defense and Justice Minister David van Weel, among others, were at the ceremony, representing the Netherlands. Minister Yeşilgöz recalled how she experienced 9/11 herself as a student, recalling how her mother called her that day, saying that she should turn on the TV. “Like everyone else, I was shocked and afraid. That is what terrorism does,” she said.

Minister Yeşilgöz also recalled that the Netherlands stood militarily with the United States after the attacks. “More than 29,000 Dutch service members served side by side with Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan over a period of nearly 20 years."

The attacks were also extensively commemorated in the United States. In New York, the names of thousands of victims were read aloud. All living former presidents traveled to Manhattan for the occasion, including George W. Bush, the Republican who was the president on 9/11. President Donald Trump did not attend the ceremony in the city but delivered a speech at the Pentagon, in which he dwelt at length on what the victims and their families endured.