September 11 – Seven Years Ago
Remarks By James B. Cunningham
U.S. Ambassador To Israel
To The Ict World Summit On Counter-Terrorism, Herzliya
September 11, 2008
 
Thank you, Jonathan Davis, for that kind introduction.  And thank you Minister Dichter for your remarks this evening.
I am honored to address the distinguished guests gathered here tonight.  This of course is the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.
That this is your eighth annual conference attests to your prescience in gathering international experts to focus on the global threats posed by terrorists and the challenges of elaborating effective counter-terrorism strategies.
Seven years ago, I was serving as the Acting Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations when American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 thundered into the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan.  The attacks occurred just as the staff at my mission were preparing for Security Council meetings and just days before the high-level debate of the UN General Assembly.
I vividly remember how sparkling blue the sky was on my way to work that morning.  And later, how scarred the southern skyline looked in the jarring absence of the Twin Towers, whose only remains were the jagged, black clouds of smoke bearing down on
Brooklyn.  My French colleague, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, actually saw the planes hit the World Trade Center from his vantage point in a neighboring mid-town skyscraper.
F. Scott Fitzgerald described Manhattan in The Great Gatsby: “The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.”  That description of hope and promise still remains among resilient New Yorkers.  Indeed, the reaction of New Yorkers, Americans and people around the world was a heartening thing to behold.   
America of course had suffered terror attacks before, as had many others around the world.  But there is no doubt that one day changed the way many Americans looked at, and thought of, the world around us.
On a personal level, the three attacks – on the Twin Towers in New York, Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon on the banks of the Potomac River literally hit home, as I am a native of Pennsylvania, my wife comes from New York State, and we have lived for long periods in both New York City and Washington, D.C.
In the hours and days that followed that awful morning, indeed on the actual afternoon of September 11, I worked with the United Nations to formulate an international response in the Security Council and the General Assembly.  At that moment in history, citizens of many nations had become “all New Yorkers” affected by the death and destruction caused by terrorism.  Nearly three thousand people from over 90 countries – including five Israelis [ALONA ABRAHAM, DANNY LEWIN, HAGI SHEFEY, SHAI LEVINHAR, LEON LEBOR] – died in the attacks of September 11.
As an American, I am grateful to those Israelis, such as Dov Shefi and many others, who have commemorated all the victims of 9/11 with memorials and parks in towns and cities throughout Israel: from Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva and Eilat in the south, to Herzliya, Ness Ziona, Or Yehuda, Rishon Lezion, and Yehud-Neve Monoson in the center of the country.  Thank you.
I will never forget accompanying the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan to the site of the still-smoldering ruins of the Trade Center.  Later, we took Ambassadors from the Security Council, and others whose citizens had perished in the attack.  I remember how profoundly shaken my Jamaican colleague was – shocked that four Jamaicans had also died in the attack alongside thousands of other people.  Ambassador Curtis Ward later became a key member of the UN’s newly-created Counter-Terrorism Committee – a body which the United States conceived of and took the lead in creating.
From my vantage point in New York, and more recently in Hong Kong on the other side of the world, I have been able to assess first-hand the lasting global impact of the events of September 11.  “9/11” changed the way Americans and many others around the world look at, and respond to, terrorism.  
On one level, 9/11 brought the peoples of the world closer together.  Nations began to work together to stop terrorism.  I emphasized this point in my address to the General Assembly two days after 9/11:  “Because this attack struck at all of us, it is right that we should work toward a coalition to defend our shared values against terrorism. Working in coalition, we can multiply the effectiveness of our response.” Working together with most of the member countries of the United Nations, we condemned the terrorist attacks on the United States, and confronted the threat posed by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda around the world.  That work continues to this day.
Under U.S. leadership, the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council drafted a pioneering counter-terrorism resolution under the powers of Chapter VII of the UN Charter.  Resolution 1373, in the words of a prominent Israeli legal scholar – Tal Becker, who was a former colleague of mine at the United Nations, “represented the first time the Council used its Chapter VII powers to impose universally binding obligations without temporal or geographic limitations.”  This was important not because Security Council resolutions can stop terror.  They can’t.  I was historic because it set a new, obligatory standard for international effort and cooperation – a new international norm.   
Resolution 1373 has become a keystone in the international architecture for combating terrorism around the globe. For the first time, we established a comprehensive agenda to guide the efforts of each nation to combat terror.  For example, it called on all states to become parties to counter-terrorism conventions, and required that all States: 

-- Prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts;

-- Refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities
or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by suppressing recruitment of
members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists;
-- Take the necessary steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts,
including by provision of early warning to other States by exchange of information;
-- Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist
acts, or provide safe havens;
-- Ensure that any person who participates in the financing, planning,
preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting terrorist acts is brought
to justice;
-- Afford one another the greatest measure of assistance in connection with
criminal investigations or criminal proceedings relating to the financing or support
of terrorist acts, including assistance in obtaining evidence in their possession
necessary for the proceedings;
-- Prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by effective border
controls and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents, and
through measures for preventing counterfeiting, forgery or fraudulent use of identity
papers and travel documents;

The UN Security Council then established a Counter-Terrorism Committee, which helped provide a common repository of information, best practices and assistance in addressing the challenge posed by diverse terrorist groups around the world.
Despite the broad powers invoked in the resolution, the resolution is not self-enforcing and compliance has been complicated by the absence of an accepted definition of the word terrorism itself. Nonetheless, this resolution, and others that followed, have encouraged countries to sign on to more than a dozen international counter-terrorism conventions that spell out in great detail the many forms that terrorism takes.  
And international leaders have helped construct a coalition of like-minded countries and people who are now intolerant of terrorism.  Among the first to clearly frame the challenge was former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who told the world less than a month after 9/11 that "there is a need for moral clarity. There can be no acceptance of those who would seek to justify the deliberate taking of innocent civilian life, regardless of cause or grievance. If there is one universal principle that all peoples can agree on, surely it is this."
We are not there yet, but many of you gathered here this week have helped construct a world that is more intolerant of terrorism, and more effective in defeating it.  That work, unfortunately, is a long-term task, and requires long term commitment.  Israel lives with the threat of terror every day, as do people in other parts of the world.  Terror is still proximate and real for many.  But for others, it is not a clear and present danger – until it happens to them.  That is why the work of building effective international cooperation and structures, promoting international commitment, and gatherings like this, matter so much.
I would like to close with a quote from President Bush on the occasion of September 11, 2008.  He said, “We remember all those who were taken from us in an instant and seek their lasting memorial in a safer and more hopeful world. We must not allow our resolve to be weakened by the passage of time. We will meet the test that history has given us and continue to fight to rid the world of terrorism and promote liberty around the globe.”
I want to thank all of you who are joining Americans, and many others around the world, in that fight.
Thank You.

ב"ה

דברי הנשיא פרופ' משה קוה בטקס חנוכת שער חגי שפי ז"ל בפארק דהאן
יום רביעי,כ"ב אלול תש"ע 1.9.2010
בני משפחת שפי היקרים, ידידי המשפחה וחבריו של חגי שפי ז"ל, חברי סגל האוניברסיטה, חברי ההנהלה, אורחים נכבדים, הפרקליט הצבאי הראשי – האלוף מנדבליט, מ"מ שגריר ארה"ב בישראל – מר גולדברגר.
כואב ודואב הלב גם 9 שנים לאחר אירוע הטרור הנורא במגדלי התאומים בניו יורק, על מסכת חיים מזהרת של עלם חמודות, מלח הארץ מכל הבחינות, שנקטעה באחת , בפעילות טרור נפשעת.
הטרור האיסלמי הרצחני שאינו מבחין בין נער לבין זקן, בין עולל לבין קשיש, ביצע גם אמש פעולה נפשעת שבגינה נרצחו 4 ישראלים בני משפחה אחת, ובהם אשה הרה.
חגי שפי ז"ל שהצליח כה רבות והשאיר את רישומו בכל מקום ומסגרת שבה שהה בבית הספר, בצה"ל, באוניברסיטה ובעולם העסקים, נפל גם הוא קורבן למרצחים חסרי לב.
חגי שהחל לימודיו באוניברסיטת בר אילן במסגרת העתודה האקדמית, התבלט מיד כתלמיד מבריק ומצטיין. הוא זכה לממלגת הצטיינות מידי שנה ואת לימודי הכלכלה לתואר ראשון סיים ב"הצטיינות" ואת לימודיו במינהל עסקים לתואר שני סיים ב"הצטיינות יתרה". את בית הספר לקצינים סיים בציון הגבוה ביותר והיה אף חניך מצטיין, וביום העצמאות בשנת 1992 קיבל תעודת הצטיינות מידי הרמטכ"ל דאז – רב אלוף אהוד ברק.
בתום לימודיו מילא חגי שורה ארוכה של תפקידים בעולם העסקים בארה"ב, הקים חברות, יעץ לחברות, היה מרצה מבוקש, ונפל על משמרת משרתו ותפקידו עת נתן הרצאה בכנס של מנהלי בנקים במגדלי התאומים.
אוניברסיטת בר אילן מוקירה את זכרו של חגי כאחד מתלמידיה המוכשרים והמצטיינים ביותר, ונענתה ברצון לבקשת המשפחה ולבקשת אהרון דהן, ידיד המשפחה וידיד האוניברסיטה, להקדשת שער משערי " הפארק לאחדות ישראל ע"ש משפחת דהאן" לזכרו של חגי ואותו נחנוך היום.
זו ,אני חושב התשובה הטובה ביותר, למעשיהם של הטרוריסטים המרצחים, לדאבון הלב, הם פגעו באופן פיזי בחגי ז"ל אך הם לא יכלו ולא יוכלו לפגוע במורשתו ובמעשיו, באהבתו למשפחתו, לעיסוקיו, למדינה ולאוניברסיטה.
הסטודנטים מכל הרבדים והסקטורים של החברה בישראל הלומדים באוניברסיטת בר אילן ומקבלים בפארק זה את תעודת הסיום שלהם כמו גם הטקסים של חברי חבר הנאמנים המגיעים לאוניברסיטה מכל קצוות תבל, מבטאים בצורה הברורה ביותר את אחדות ישראל, ואת ההכרח של כולנו להתאחד, כדי להבטיח קיומו של העם היהודי בארצו.
הסטודנטים הרבים שיחלפו כאן בוודאי ינצרו את זכרו ואת מורשתו של חגי לעד, כמו גם את זכרם של נפגעי טרור אחרים שלמדו באוניברסיטת בר אילן.
יהי זכרו ברוך.

Remarks by Thomas Goldberger
Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires
Embassy of the United States to Israel
September 1, 2010, Bar Ilan University
Dedication Ceremony for “Hagay Shefi Gate”

General and Mrs. Shefi, Mr. President of Bar-Ilan University, General Mandelblit, distinguished Professors, ladies and gentlemen, friends.  I am honored to be with you today to help mark this sad and important event. Nine eleven two thousand and one. Two twin towers. Nineteen hijackers. Two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-six casualties.  After nine years, the numbers have become a familiar checklist cited in every article, every news report, and every speech related to the largest terrorist attack on American soil.  As time goes on, and as our wounds heal, we manage to maintain a semblance of composure when we hear the staggering numbers.  Our anger is mitigated by our acceptance.  Our confusion is offset by our tolerance.  Our pain is balanced by our resilience. But there is one number that never fails to jolt us back to reality and to all of the emotions of that day: the number “one.”  By zooming in and focusing on one individual, we transcend statistics. We confront reality: each person taken away from us was a unique individual with special talents to offer the world.  We remember that the tragedy of September 11 is actually 3,000 tragedies

Today, I join you -- his family, friends, and countrypeople --  to acknowledge the power of the individual with a dedication ceremony for an extraordinary person: Hagay Shefi. I am sorry that I did not have the privilege to know Hagay myself.  At the young age of 34, Hagay Shefi was already a successful entrepreneur. He went to New York City -- to the World Trade Center -- to share his expertise; he was a keynote speaker in the Windows on the World.  His was a life through which others were blessed and enriched.  In like manner those who come through this gate named in his honor will be enriched by education.  With Hagay’s death, the terrorists killed a father, a son, and a friend.  The loss of the Shefi family is America’s loss and the world’s loss. Please accept again my country’s condolences for Hagay’s death, as for the loss of three other Israelis who died that day: Alona Avraham, Shai Levinhar, and Daniel Levin.

Sadly, Israelis are no strangers to the nightmare of terrorism – as we were brutally reminded less than 24 hours ago near the city of Hebron.  After the September 11th  attacks, the world offered America sympathy.  Israel offered empathy – because you know. Today in Israel, there are ten monuments in memory of the victims; many of them thanks to the tireless work of General Shefi. The monuments are a testament to Israel’s understanding that the events of September 11 were not only an attack on America. They were an attack on every country and every society that values freedom, the rule of law, and respect for human life -- values that are, of course, fundamental to both our countries. 

Israel, time and again, has managed to overcome national tragedy through national solidarity. Israel mourns as a nation, weeps as a nation, and moves on as a nation. And you remember, as we do so movingly today. My country has much to learn from this resilience and courage. As we move forward in pursuit of peace this evening in Washington, DC, let us remember Hagay and all the sacrifices so many have made. Let us remember how much we all lose when innocent human beings with such great potential are caught in the crossfire. And let us do all that we can to bring peace that ends that violence, in their honor.

בס"ד

ד"ר צבי יוסמן.
סגן ראש ביה"ס למנהל עסקים.
אוניברסיטת בר-אילן

דברים לזכרו של חגי שפי ז"ל.
     1 בספטמבר 2010    כ"ב באלול תש"ע
                                                     

אסתר ודב, סיגל, רועי ונעמי, פזית וישי, סגן שגריר ארה"ב בישראל מר תומאס גולדברג, נשיא האוניברסיטה פרופ' משה קווה, רב הקמפוס הרב שלמה שפר, משפחה, וחברים.

תשע שנים חלפו מאותו יום מר ונמהר בו התרחש האסון הנורא של התקפת טרור נפשעת על אדמת ארה"ב, אשר הביא למותם של אלפים רבים חפים מפשע. בהתקפה על מגדל התאומים – מרכז העסקים בניו-יורק, נספו 2978 אנשים ובתוכם חגי שפי ז"ל ועוד ארבעה ישראלים.

אני, לצערי, לא הכרתי את חגי ז"ל באופן אישי כסטודנט – הוא למד את לימודי ה MBA בביה"ס למנהל עסקים זמן רב לפני בואי לביה"ס. רציתי על כל פנים ללמוד עליו ועל דמותו כאדם. אודה שתמיד מסקרן לדעת מה קורה אצל תלמידיך לאחר סיום לימודיהם - בהם הרבצת את תורתך והשקעת בהם את מלוא מרצך. במה הם עוסקים? היכן הם פועלים? כמה הם מצליחים? במיוחד נכון הדבר לגבי אותם תלמידים מיוחדים ש"תחושת הבטן" שלך מבשרת שהם אמנם יגיעו רחוק.  

ניסיתי על כן לעמוד על דמותו של חגי מתוך עיון במקורות שונים, לרבות שיחות עם מרצים שלימדו את חגי, עיון בתיק הלימודים שלו בארכיון ביה"ס, קריאת מכתבים וחיבורים שונים שכתבו קרובים וחברים, ומאתר ההנצחה באינטרנט. מכל אשר למדתי עליו, בטוחני שחגי היה אחד מיוחד שכזה!

בקיצור נמרץ, וכפי שציין פרופ' קווה מקודם, למד חגי אצלנו באוניברסיטת בר-אילן, בה סיים תואר ראשון בכלכלה כעתודאי ולאחר מכן השלים תואר שני במנהל עסקים, כדרכו, בהצטיינות יתירה. את לימודי ה MBA למד חגי במהלך שרותו כקצין וראש מדור אג"מ באגף התקציבים של היועץ הכלכלי לרמטכ"ל. חגי היה גם קצין מצטיין והיה אהוד מאד על מפקדיו ופקודיו. 

דמותו של חגי העולה מדברי הזיכרונות ומשיחות עם מרצים, היא מרשימה ביותר : חגי היה מנהיג ומוביל בכל דבר בו התנסה. הוא ניחן ביכולת אינטלקטואלית מבריקה וכושר ניתוח מעולה, היה בעל כושר עבודה וחריצות בלתי רגילים, והתמדתו ויכולת ההספק שלו היו לשם דבר – כדברי חבר קרוב לעבודה. מתוך עיון בתפקידים ותחומי אחריות שהיו לחגי, הישגיו המקצועיים של אדם צעיר כמוהו הם מרשימים בקנה מידה עולמי. חגי אכן לקח על עצמו אתגרים עסקיים ואסטרטגיים קשים ועמד בהם בהצלחה באופן יוצא דופן, וחתר למצוינות בכל עיסוקיו.  

יחד עם זאת, אני למד על חגי כאדם שתמיד היה לו חיוך ופנאי לכל אדם ללא קשר למעמדו, וגם אוזן קשבת לכל מי שבא להתייעץ עימו או סתם לשוחח. דמותו מיוצגת בדברי חז"ל במסכת אבות (ג', י"ב) "כל שרוח הבריות נוחה הימנו, רוח המקום נוחה הימנו". המצוות שבין אדם לחברו - בצורת התייחסות האדם לסובב אותו, ובהיזון חוזר, ההתייחסות של החברה אליו, מהוות אמת-מידה ברורה ומדד לרמתו הרוחנית הכללית של האדם. חגי אכן הצטיין ביחסו לזולת, ניחן בשלווה ואורך רוח, והיה חביב על כל אדם.

היהדות רואה בכל אדם נזר הבריאה ומזהה את צלם האלוקים הטמון בו. מכאן נובע היחס הטוב והמטיב כלפי הזולת, מכאן גם נובעת האהבה העזה לכל נברא בצלם אלוקים, בבחינת "ואהבת לרעיך כמוך". זהו המקור לכל פעולה של גמילות חסד, של הכרת טובה ושל עשיית טוב ליהודי וגם לשאינו יהודי - כפי שעשה חגי בחייו המלאים אך הקצרים.

אנו מברכים על הקדשת שער ההנצחה לזכרו של חגי ז"ל.
יהי זכרו ברוך לעד ותהיה נשמתו צרורה בצרור החים.

September 1st, 2010 

Brig. General (ret) Dov Shefi, Attorney, Father of Hagay
Speaks at the dedication ceremony of Hagay Shefi Gate ,Bar Ilan university

 
The president of the University, Prof. Moshe Kaveh, the dear donor, our friend Aaron Dahan, H.E the Deputy  US Ambassador Mr. Thomas H. Goldberger, Dep. Head of the School of Economics and Business Prof. Zvi Yosman, the JAG MG A. Mandleblit, and all former Judge Advocate Generals, my dear wife Esther,  my family and all our dear friends that came to pay respect to the memory of our beloved Hagay in this beautiful place,   Dear guests,

Since we get closer to Rosh Hashanah I shall start with a Happy New Year to all.

As the most proud and the saddest Father of Hagay Shefi (34) and on behalf of all the greater Shefi family I would like to express our deep thanks and appreciation to the President of the University of Bar-Ilan Prof. Moshe Kaveh and to the dear donor Aharon Dahan for the decision to name a gate to this beautiful Dahan Amphitheatre and the “Unity Park” on  our dear son Hagay Shefi and and all other students fallen in Terror attack.

 The Gate honors Hagay who studied and was awarded his both degrees in this University.

The School of Economics and Business Administration as well as the Bar- Ilan University can be proud of their student –Hagay, that was brought up in Ramat Ilan and used to see the Campus from his room since being a child.
He used to pray in the holydays with his father at the Synagogue of the University.

Hagay was admired and is still admired by every person that knew him due to his integrity, his character, his personality, his distinguished achievements in all aspects of his life. In anything he was involved he was excellent. Therefore he can be a symbol and a model to the excellence of both the University and its School of Economics and Business.

Hagay received, as a student, every year, stipends from the BA Univ. On 1992 he concluded his studies and received His MBA-Magna cum Laude. Parallel he concluded the Officers School in IDF as a distinguished cadet and therefore was asked to speak on behalf of the cadets at the final reception. Despite his being very young, Hagay was appointed, while he was a captain, to be a member of a delegation of MOD+IDF, to negotiate in Germany, with German delegation about urgent procurement needs due to the Iraqi attack on Israel in 1991 war. When I was the General Counsel of MOD, I used to meet Hagay at the waiting room of the Director General, together with his commander- Brig, Gen Navon. They were waiting to brief MG (Ret.) David Ivri, before he met with people of the Ministry of Finance. On the Independence Day of 1992, before Hagay ended his 5 years military career, He was awarded a certificate of a distinguished officer, signed by the then Chief of Staff-Lt. General Ehud Barak.
Hagay decided, long time before he was discharged from the Army to get married and leave for sometime to US, in order to study the financial market at Wall street.

At the age of 29 Hagay was appointed as President of a US Hi-tech company for the first time. After being a President of 2 additional Companies, he founded his own one: GoldTier Tech. Inc. with a partnership of a friend. This occurred early in 2001, however a short time after the company started to take off, Hagay was killed on Sept. 11th by   highjeckers of Al-Qaeda that planned to commit this attack against a civilian target in which thousands of innocent peace-loving people that didn’t harm anyone were in. We were faced with the gravest War Crimes since the crimes of the Nazis in II World War: Genocide, Crime against Peace and Crime against Humanity. In addition, the terrorists committed a series of crimes according the US Laws.

The terrible day of 9/11/01 will be remembered for ever, both by the families of the victims as well as in the long history of mankind.

Nine years past since our beloved Hagay was taken from all of us in the middle of lots of plans and dreams that he wanted to achieve. Hagay left a loving wife-Sigal and two kids: Roy, who was 5 years old, and Naomi, who was 3 years old. Sigal managed to raise them in an excellent atmosphere.
They are here with us. Last year we celebrated Roy’s Bar-Mitzvah and this year we celebrated Naomi’s Bat Mitzva. We are all deeply sorrry that Hagay missed both celebrations of his kids whom he deeply loved.

“Hagay Shefi Gate” honors his memory by this University whose symbol is excellence.

We appreciate the decision taken by Bar -Ilan University with the blessing of the donor, our friend, Mr. Aharon Dahan, to build and dedicate the “Hagay Shefi Gate”. We express special thanks to H.E. the US Ambassador, Mr. James Cunningham for his decision to honor this ceremony and to ask the DCM (who is today the charge daffier- Acting Ambassador), Mr. T.H. Goldberger, to take part in this ceremony, since he is abroad and joins the current peace talks. Thank you Mr Goldberger for your participation and for your kind words.
 At the same time we would like to thank our friends Ruthy and Prof. Moshe Salomy and all other good people that assisted to plan and construct the Gate in a short time, Mr. Moty Mishan, head of the BA Univ. President’s chamber and Eng. Shmuel Gan-El, the Deputy Director of Bar-Ilan University.

In the book of Proverbs (Mishley) chapter C, sentence 13,  I found  a suitable description to Hagay which is inscribed on the Hagay Shefi Gate: 

“Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and is rich in prudence”