The horrific events of September 11th, 2001, are etched into the memory of millions worldwide. Amidst the widespread shock and grief, certain eyewitness accounts emerged that fueled intense scrutiny and debate. One such account involves a group of young Israeli men whose behavior on that fateful day sparked suspicion and led to an FBI investigation. This incident, often referred to as the “911 Dancing Israelis,” remains a contentious topic, intertwined with questions of intelligence connections and conspiracy theories.
Maria, a resident of New Jersey, who chose not to disclose her last name, was one of the individuals who witnessed something unusual that morning. From her apartment, she had a clear view of the World Trade Center. Shortly after the first plane struck the North Tower, a neighbor alerted her to the unfolding catastrophe. Grabbing her binoculars, Maria began to observe the devastation in Lower Manhattan. However, amidst the chaos and destruction, her attention was drawn to a peculiar scene unfolding closer to home.
According to Maria’s account, she observed three young men positioned on the roof of a white van in her apartment building’s parking lot. Their actions were not those of horrified bystanders; instead, Maria described them as “taking a movie.” She elaborated that the men appeared to be filming or photographing themselves with the backdrop of the burning World Trade Center towers. It was the expressions on their faces that Maria found particularly unsettling. “They were like happy, you know… They didn’t look shocked to me. I thought it was very strange,” she recounted.
![Men filming World Trade Center burning in background alt text: Three young men are seen kneeling on the roof of a white van, filming the burning World Trade Center towers in the background. Their expressions appear to be happy and celebratory, contrasting with the somber mood of the 9/11 tragedy.]
এতটাই struck by their behavior, Maria decided to take action. She noted down the license plate number of the van and promptly contacted the police. Her call set in motion a chain of events that quickly escalated to involve the FBI, and a statewide alert was issued for the van in question.
The license plate was traced back to a vehicle owned by Urban Moving Systems. Later that afternoon, around 4 p.m. on September 11th, the van was located on a service road near Giants Stadium in New Jersey, off Route 3. A police officer initiated a stop and discovered five men, aged between 22 and 27, inside. The men were apprehended at gunpoint and handcuffed by the police.
The officers who made the arrest reported several details that heightened their suspicion. One of the men was found to be concealing $4,700 in cash in his sock. Another was in possession of two foreign passports. A box cutter was also discovered in the van. Perhaps most notably, the five men identified themselves as Israeli citizens, adding another layer of complexity to the situation.
During questioning, as documented in the police report, one of the passengers admitted that they had been on the West Side Highway in Manhattan “during the incident,” referring to the World Trade Center attack. The driver of the van, Sivan Kurzberg, reportedly made a statement to the officers, saying, “We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem.” The other individuals in the van were identified as Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Omer Marmari.
The incident of the “911 dancing Israelis” quickly became a point of intense discussion and speculation. While their behavior was undeniably unusual and raised red flags, the full context and motivations behind their actions remain debated. The event underscores the atmosphere of suspicion and heightened security that followed the 9/11 attacks, and continues to be a subject of scrutiny in discussions surrounding the events of that day.
