Ziad Jarrah

Ziad Jarrah

Ziad Samir Jarrah was a Lebanese man who joined a group planning very dangerous actions. He was born on May 11, 1975, in Beirut during a hard time for his country. Later, he went to Germany to study aerospace engineering.

In 2001, Jarrah was involved in the attacks on September 11. He and three others took control of United Airlines Flight 93, which was flying from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco. They planned to fly the plane into a big building in Washington, D.C., but the passengers fought back. Because of this, the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, and everyone on board died.

The events that day were very sad and changed many things in the world. People study Jarrah’s story to understand how to stop such terrible plans in the future.

Early life

Ziad Samir Jarrah was born on 11 May 1975, in the Mazraa neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon. He grew up in a well-off family. His father worked for the government, and his mother was a school principal.

During his childhood, fighting happened in Beirut because of the Lebanese Civil War. This was a difficult time, and his family sometimes went to their farm to feel safer. Jarrah liked playing football and martial arts. He was very interested in aviation, even though his family did not support this dream.

Education

Sources do not agree on Ziad Jarrah's school performance. One teacher in Beirut said he had below-average grades. But his cousin Assem said that when Jarrah studied in Greifswald, Germany, he was very smart. He finished a language course in two semesters instead of four. By the end of his life, Jarrah could speak at least four languages well: Arabic, French, German, and English.

Jarrah first went to an Islamic school in his neighborhood. Later, he attended a Christian school in an upper middle class area of east Beirut called Achrafieh. In the 1990s, his parents asked him to leave home and choose between studying in Germany or Canada. He chose Germany. In April 1996, Jarrah moved to Germany and began a German-language course at the University of Greifswald. He lived with his cousins and later had a romantic relationship with Aysel Şengün, who was studying dentistry. He planned to study dentistry too.

Radicalization

After Ziad Jarrah returned from a trip to Beirut in winter 1996, his friend noticed he seemed different. He became more serious and began reading a book about Islamist ideas. He also started going to a mosque where he met a man who encouraged strict religious behavior.

Jarrah later moved to Hamburg to study aerospace engineering at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. He had worked at a Volkswagen paint shop in Wolfsburg. During this time, he met friends who also encouraged strict religious behavior. His changing views worried his family, who asked him to return home.

Hamburg cell

Main article: Hamburg cell

Ziad Jarrah joined a group at a mosque in Hamburg. This group, called the Hamburg cell, planned very serious attacks. They wanted to hijack airplanes and crash them into important buildings in the United States.

Jarrah was one of the people who took control of an airplane on September 11, 2001. His plane was United Airlines Flight 93. The group tried to crash it into a big building, but the plane crashed in a field instead. Many people were sadly killed in these attacks.

Planning of the September 11 attacks

Main article: Planning of the September 11 attacks

The people who planned the attacks came back to their city to work on their plans together. They tried to keep their activities secret and fit in with normal life.

Before the attacks, one of the men likely entered the country many times. He went to a school to learn how to fly small planes and later trained to fly bigger jets. He made friends and was liked by others at the school.

In the months before the attacks, some of the people involved got driver’s licenses and joined a gym. One of them thought about leaving the plan but later decided to continue.

In the days before the attacks, one of the men called his family and said he would attend a wedding. He also wrote a letter to someone close to him.

September 11 attacks

Main articles: September 11 attacks and United Airlines Flight 93

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Ziad Jarrah and three others were on United Airlines Flight 93. The plane was supposed to fly from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco. They planned to crash the plane into a big building in Washington, D.C.

The hijackers took control of the plane. Passengers learned through phone calls that other planes had crashed into buildings. They tried to take back the plane. During the struggle, the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Everyone on board died in the crash.

Aftermath

After September 11, someone reported that Jarrah was missing in Bochum, Germany. In the U.S., people thought he might have been involved when his name was seen on the list of passengers for Flight 93. His passport was found where the plane crashed, but it was damaged.

Jarrah’s family said he was not involved and was just an ordinary person who had plans to go to a wedding. But later, reports showed that he was part of the hijacking.

In popular culture

Ziad Jarrah has appeared as a character in several movies about the events of September 11, 2001. Actors have portrayed him in films like The Hamburg Cell (2004), The Flight That Fought Back (2005), Flight 93 (2006), and United 93 (2006). A 2021 film called Copilot shows his life before the attack. There is also a 2016 album that mentions him in its first song.