“It was like a tsunami.” On September 11, 2001, everything changed, especially for the Muslim community around the world, which quickly found itself stigmatized following the deadly attacks in New York.
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Boufeldja Benabdallah, the co-founder and spokesperson of the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec, recalls the speed with which the world turned to people of the Muslim faith to explain the attacks.
“It was as fast as the plane that entered the building. People would ask us “why, why, why?” It was an extremely difficult period for us, ”explains Mr. Benabdallah.
Despite everything, the Islamic community was also experiencing a shock, like the rest of the planet.
“We were shocked. There was this pain, we could not resist crying for all these deaths, ”says the man.
Targeted women
Boufeldja Benabdallah believes that Muslim women were targeted more than men in the aftermath of September 11 because they were more visible. Thus, they were unfortunately often the target of threats or violent Islamophobic gestures in the aftermath of the collapse of the towers.
“They were immediately identified. There are those who have had the veil pulled, there are those who have been insulted, ”says Mr. Benabdallah.
“The amalgam was at a height that has never been seen and it left scars that are not completely gone yet, I confess”, launches the man.
“Insupportable”
According to him, the lame links made between the hijackers and the Muslim community in general have caused almost irreversible damage.
“When you remember this pain from New York, it’s terrible. We are compassionate with people who have lost their families, but we have also lost our peace of mind that we had come here to seek, ”explains the spokesperson.
“It was unbearable, it’s as if we had to hide from the vindictiveness of people and senseless words,” recalls Mr. Benabdallah. He remembers that mosques were targeted, Korans torn apart and pigs’ heads laid in front of holy places.
“This tsunami is starting to pass, and we are starting to come back to life with society, which understands that it is not necessary to mix things up, that we are citizens like everyone else,” he summarizes.
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