When the two towers fell and America, for one moment collectively stood still in silent, rapt horror, Muslims across the West were forced to look long and hard at themselves in a mirror forged by the fires of those passenger jets.
Alaa Koleilat, a 3rd year Neuroscience major at UCLA, was living in North Dakota when the attacks happened. She shares her experience as one of the few Muslims that live in this state.
I was twelve the year the disaster occurred. Until then, I had lived in a happy-go-lucky little bubble, safely cushioned from the events of the world until September 11, 2001 brought the events of the world to my doorstep.
Al-Talib speaks with Sabrina Syed, a 2nd year student at UCLA majoring in Biology, on her experience traveling back from Pakistan to the U.S. the day of the September 11 attacks. Syed was 8 years old at that time and was traveling with her sister and mother.
September 2001. For me, it marked turning ten, my family’s move from New York to California and my first time attending a public school after spending my childhood in a private Islamic school. It also happened to be the month where the actions of a few extremist individuals changed the lives of Muslim Americans forever.
“Come on…get up…get up….HURRRYYY!” my dad was yelling at all of us, probably because we had all slept in again. I still wasn’t back on track with my schedule, getting over the jetlag from our summer travels, and really wasn’t looking forward to lugging my tired body over to school that day.
A young Muslim woman from O.C., Marwa Atik, has started her own business in designing fashionable hijabs. These Vela scarves stand out from the usual hijabs as they integrate Western fashion such as ruffles, pleats and beaded sequins. Though some Muslims criticize that these scarves contradict the hijab’s purpose of modesty by drawing too much…
The infamous Irvine 11 will soon become the Irvine 10 after charges against one of the eleven students are planned to be dropped, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office. The student, Hakim Kebir, will have all his charges dropped once he completes 40 hours of community service at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen.…
Members of the Irvine 11 plead not guilty to two misdemeanor charges at their arraignment on Friday.
The infamous “Asians in the Library” video shows that not all students have been adequately prepared on how to deal with diversity. This recent incident demonstrates the need for UCLA to finally pass a “diversity” requirement.