As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the time is ripe for reflection. As is commonly said, the events of September 11, 2001 ‘changed everything’, and a decade on we are still trying to make sense of what happened that day, and where we’ve come since then.

This week TomDispatch.com will be attempting to make sense of the legacy of 9/11, and they begin with a post by Noam Chomsky called ‘Was There An Alternative? Looking Back on 9/11 a Decade Later’. The founding editor of TomDispatch.com, Tom Engelhardt, weighs in, too, in the latest TomCast podcast, and he calls for the cancellation of 9/11 ceremonies since they, among other reasons, ‘provide a blank check for the military to conduct its wars’. Keep an eye on the website for more posts in the coming days.

Islamophobia is a disturbing sentiment that has intensified in the West over the past ten years, and recently the Centre for American Progress released a report titled ‘Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America’, which chronicles how a small group of anti-Muslim organisations, think tanks, financiers, politicians and media commentators are able to proliferate the fear and hatred of Muslims in America. Antiwar radio conducted a great interview with co-author of the report Eli Clifton.

Also worth a listen on Antiwar radio is the interview with journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, Pepe Escobar. Escobar has been reporting on the Arab uprisings for the Asia Times, and in an interview with Antiwar radio host Scott Horton, Escobar discusses a recent article of his on the Libyan intervention, ‘R2P is now Right 2 Plunder’. Yep, you guessed it, according to Escobar NATO allies will amass wealth out of reconstructing Libya (like, rebuilding what they bombed) and by extracting its natural resources. Listen to the podcast, and follow Escobar’s reporting for the Asia Times.

Exploring similar issues to Andy Worthington’s article ‘When America Changed Forever’ (in the latest Overland), Lisa Hajjar, a professor of sociology at the University of California and co-editor of Jadaliyya, is writing a five-part series for Al Jazeera on America’s detention policy post-9/11. Part one is already up.

And if you missed it, see Malalai Joya’s opinion piece in the Age. Joya, an Afghan writer and activist Overland brought out for the Melbourne Writers Festival, is also interviewed in Overland 204, which can now be read online.

And some extra links:

• Independent Israeli journalist Joseph Dana reviews a new book that explores Israel’s military legal system, titled Threat: Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israel

• For a bit of literature: Perry Anderson on the historical novel, over at The London Review of Books

• New Matilda is calling for 1500 readers to sign up as financial supporters to keep the publication afloat in 2012

• And, lastly, if you’re like me and didn’t get to see as many Melbourne Writers’ Festival events as you hoped, catch up on all the fun of the Festival at its official blog. Overland’s Clare Strahan was also a MWF UNblogger this year, and you can read her coverage of the Festival at her blog, 9fragmented