nmah92.xml

nmah92.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-07-25

I witnessed it on the campus TV and later at the dorms of George Mason University. I witnessed with hundreds of other students some of whom had family there some of whom didn't have a clue what was going on. I remember sitting down for breakfast at around 9:30 and a friend of mine comes running to me saying that a plane hit the World Trade Center. With this news I immediately ran to the TV's and looked as the footage was shown over and over of the second plane hitting the second tower. Every now and then they would say something sketchy abou tthe Pentagon but nothing realy definitive on what happened. I looked around me several times to see the crowd had amassed to enormous proportions for such a small space; everyone wanted to knwo what happened. Unfortuantely I had class at 10:30, a test, all I had seen so far was the fall of both towers and the crash at the pentagon. Immediately beofre my class I called home to tell my parents, if they didn't already know, I found that the line was busy so I emailed them to watch the news. I went to my class and took the test that everyone was dreading, but there was a different kind of fear in the classroom, not of failing but of terror. As soon as I got out of class, I went to my best friend, me and her decided to go to a friend's dorm room and watch the news, I wasn't planning on goign to any of my other classes, this was importnat, I had to know what was going on. We sat down in the dorm room, flipping between CNN, ABC, FOX and every other channel to try and get every side of the story. I failed to mention the fact that I am an Arab and Muslim and American. We sat there hoping that it wasn't Arabs who had done it, we prayed for the people in the buildings and got goosebumps everytime we saw another bloody face. It was horrible watching the destruction and death, the terror and anger in people's faces. We left the dorm room and went home immediately, my mom kept calling me to make sure I was ok and to make me come home. School was canceled for the evening and I went home with my best friend, we sat there watching the news and thinking and discussing. It puzzled all of us and it still does.

Yes and no, it did in that immediately after the attacks I was afraid as a Muslim woman wearing a scarf to leave my house. The fear wore off and I decided that it wasn't my ignorance or my fault. In every race and every culture, in every religion and in every country you have people who are just plain evil; their intentions are evil and they have no great reason for what they do, whatever they may claim, September 11th just reaffirmed this notion.

I think what should be remembered is the bravery of all who witnessed it, not just those at Ground Zero but those at home who saw the horror. I that all the people who died that day should be remembered, for they were innocent human beings.

Yes, I did. But then again I always flew the flag. The flag symbolizes our country and all it has to offer, it deserved to be flown without the events of September 11th. But September 11th did make my convictions of the flag and its symbolisis stronger.