My attention was recently drawn to an article in which the writer described her bitter experiences living in New York at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. The writer described how she experienced many problems during the first few days after the attacks simply because she was Saudi.
I sympathize with her predicament and the problems she endured. But as a Saudi student also living in New York, I feel it is my duty to tell my own experiences which happen to be the opposite of that writer’s.
When fingers began pointing at who might have been behind the attacks, I was seized with fear of what might happen to me, my wife and our two daughters. Because we felt that violence against us was a possibility, I went so far as to shave my beard and my wife began wearing a cap instead of her usual hijab (head scarf). The reality, however, turned out to be the opposite of what we expected. The feelings of fear and concerns about being victimized became instead a flood of sympathy and support from everyone we knew. It seemed that every person we knew phoned to make sure we were safe. Some people even offered to stay with us and make sure we remained safe. Despite our fears following the attacks, we continued our daily routines. Thank God, we encountered no trouble. On the contrary, we were received with respect and politeness wherever we went — despite our obviously Middle Eastern appearances and our speaking Arabic.
By telling my experience, I do not want to discredit the various news reports about Arabs and Muslims having problems. My objective is to show the different sides that all peoples and groups exhibit when experiencing hard times. Since mainstream Muslim society does not approve of what was done by those who hijacked their religion and who gained prominence by it, it is equally unfair to blame all American society for the acts of a few. Bad news is always more interesting to report and it sells more papers than ordinary good news — even though there is far more of the latter.
23 September 2002
