12/7/41 and 9/11/01 “I was quite close to the Pentagon”

I was at a Washington, DC, appointment to meet the President. And, needless to say, the appointment was postponed, but this is where I was heading at anyway. We arrived in Washington, 9/10, in the evening. In the morning we were getting ready for the meeting, then we heard the news. As a matter of fact, I was quite close to the Pentagon area and it was quite a shock.

Aftermath “I will not leave”

We have a neighbor, who is an Egyptian Christian, who was shot in his store in a hate crime and the guy is not even a Muslim. And there are subtle things that you cannot put your hand on, but you find people are losing their jobs, women who are wearing the scarves are having a more difficult time, there are lots of children in schools also are being insulted. What I’m worried about is stories that I heard about people who have been asked by other passengers to de-board the plane, because I think this is very insulting and very humiliating. And this is being accepted, it’s done repeatedly. I was talking to an FBI person and I told him if it happens to me I will not leave. They can call the authorities to carry me, which with my weight it is enough punishment for them, but I will not leave. I refuse to accept the reality that I have less right to fly than any one of those. If they don’t feel comfortable with me being on the plane, they leave, I don’t. Search me, fine. Be sure that I’m not carrying anything illegal, fine. But to ask me to leave, no way.

Anger “I am expected to validate myself repeatedly”

I am expected to validate myself repeatedly to be accepted and I resent that. I was not born in America, I didn’t take it for granted. I deliberately acquired America as a home. It is my choice and my last choice. And my deliberate choice. So I resent questioning my patriotism. One commentator asked me, “Did you condemn 9/11 in public?” So I asked him, “Did you?” And the point is he thinks that he can ask me the question, but I cannot ask him the same question. And still we go places and say, “But, why did Muslims not speak openly against terrorism?” We have been speaking against terrorism way before 9/11. We are an Islamic organization that condemned the Taliban three years before the problems. But the fact that they come back to you repeating this question means: You don’t belong. You are not for real. Or you are just saying that to be politically correct or to be protected, which is very insulting.

Being American “I chose America deliberately”

Life in Egypt was incompatible with my ideas. It was a dictatorship and I am a person for freedom. I did not come for employment or for betterment of my income or anything of that sort. I chose America deliberately, to be able to live in a democracy. I feel that freedom is a basic requirement for human-beingness. So I came here knowing that home is not where my grandfather is buried, home is where my grandson ought to be brought up.

Loss “They created a virtual camp around us”

For the Japanese Americans, they collected them physically, interned them in camps and closed the gates. For us they did not do that yet. Nonetheless, they created a virtual camp around us. It’s almost identical, but the methods are refined. The methods now are more refined, more sophisticated and more polished. You have to keep being very careful about your statements. And if you are not, you are questioned. You still find people in the street who might tell you, “Why don’t you go home?” as if this is not home. And there is a feeling that you have to justify and to clarify your statements. If you allow this, we are in a camp.

Never Again “It should never happen again”

History should never repeat itself. And what happened in the past, if we realize that it is wrong, it should never happen again. I like very much the slogan “Never again” for the Jews. I just feel that it should be for everybody. And what happened to the Japanese Americans should be a “never again.” What happened to the Jews in the Holocaust should be a “never again.” And we can only do that by studying history in an objective way. As they say, “The history of the jungle will change if the animals of the jungle write it, not the hunters.”