We mourn the recent passing January 8th, 2017 of Rita Lasar, instrumental Co-Founder of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Rita’s son Matthew writes: On September 11, 2001 terrorists attacked the nearby World Trade Center. Rita’s younger brother Abraham (Abe) worked in the North Tower of the complex, and perished while waiting for firefighters to help a wheelchair bound co-worker escape the building.Three days later President George W. Bush cited Abe’s courage in a speech before the National Cathedral, but Rita began to fear that her brother’s sacrifice would be used as justification for recklessness abroad. On September 17, she sent a letter to The New York Times that expressed this concern. “It is in my brother’s name and mine that I pray that we, this country that has been so deeply hurt, not do something that will unleash forces we will not have the power to call back,” she wrote. The letter attracted widespread attention.
