It has been almost one decade since the horrible events of 9/11 took place. I wanted to share some insights on the beauty of America and humanity in general, as this tragic event, has directly impacted me in various ways.
All throughout my life, I don't ever recall experiencing discrimination prior to 9/11. At the time of 9/11, I was working for a public accounting firm. A few months after 9/11, one of the partners in the firm came up to me and without hesitation told me that I was starting to look like a terrorist due to my maintaining a small beard. I don't believe he realized the impact of his statement, nor do I believe his statement was intended to harm, but it was a comment that definitely had more meaning after 9/11.
At a subsequent place of employment, I had a manager who was unaware of my Syrian origin. After finding out of my origin, the manager sarcastically stated that "had I known you were Syrian prior to hiring you, I would not have hired a terrorist." Once again, I do not believe this comment was made by a racist, etc., but rather made by someone who was using bad judgment.
The 3rd incident that comes to mind was when my wife and I were in an elevator at the airport. One lady, with a baby in a stroller freaked out when she saw my wife and me in the elevator with her and the doors closing. She immediately got out of the elevator with her baby. I genuinely felt sorry for this lady afterwards, as fear caused this reaction. It was upsetting, but something out of my control.
Since moving to DC in 2005, I have been fortunate to see the beautiful work of interfaith organizations, working in harmony to make America a more pluralistic society. Every Friday afternoon, I am required to attend a prayer service at a mosque. With options being limited due to a one hour lunch break, a local church has opened its doors for the Muslim community to allow us to have our service. It is absolutely amazing and remarkable that opportunities for dialogue have become stronger post 9/11. Kudos to the Church of the Epiphany for this kind gesture. http://www.epiphanydc.org
Additionally, about a year ago, I was working from home and had to attend the Friday service. As I recently moved to Northern Virginia, I was unaware of local facilities, but after doing some online research, I found another interfaith organization that had made its facilities open for the service. This facility, Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, http://www.nvhcreston.org/, enabled Muslims to come to a Jewish Center for prayer services.
Both of the above instances reiterated to me what is right about America and provides hope for the future. Terrorism has no place in any religion and under no circumstances can be condoned, promoted, or validated. It is incomprehensible for anyone to disrespect the value of life. If more energy was spent on killing each other with kindness, rather than weapons, humanity would reap the benefits.
