As a Afghani-American
By Yasmine
Dear Friends and Family,
As an American, a New Yorker and an Afghan, I have struggled with many feelings.
I have wondered what I can do to educate people about the state of affairs in Afghanistan
now and over the past 20 years. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December of 1979,
it is September 2001 and my father's country has been destroyed day by day for over
two decades. I am disgusted by the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. For my family, these
have been household names for years prior to the tragedies we witnessed on Tuesday.
My father has spent years trying to get people in our government to listen -- he
has sat around our dinner table talking to his children for hours on end about what
was happening to his homeland -- so many of our friends have listened as my Dad spoke
passionately about the hateful crimes the Taliban was committing against innocent
Afghans all in the name of Islam, an Islam that my family does not know, an Islam
that cannot be found in the pages of the Koran.
I beg you, as friends, to take the anger we all feel and try to learn and spread
knowledge. We all want retaliation. We want someone to pay for the innocent people
whose lives were taken away. But, please, please, please understand that Afghans
like me and my family have never supported the Taliban. In fact, we have watched
helplessly as these cowards took the little bit of dignity the Afghans had left after
the Soviet war.
I went to work the other night and watched groups of friends, bright and educated
people, stop their conversations as I approached. I have never experienced anything
like this. My Dad recently grew a beard, but after seeing images of bearded fundamentalists
on TV, we have asked him to shave it off to quell any possibility of attacks out
of ignorance. For the first time in my life, I am afraid to tell people my ethnic
background. My name is a liability. My coloring makes me feel scared when people
look at me on the subway. I find myself thankful that my sisters and Mom have lighter
coloring.
Please read the following letter. We all feel helpless right now. If nothing else,
please try to educate your friends. Please do not perpetuate hate. Hatred brought
down the World Trade Center. Hate is hate -- there is no gray area.
It is very possible that we will bomb Afghanistan in the coming days. Maybe emails
like this will not stop that from happening, but let's not pretend that we do not
know that those actions will kill innocent and helpless people who have lived under
the terror of the Taliban for years. We turned our backs for so long. We have not
written about them, or if we have, we have not read those articles, we skipped past
them. People did not know where Afghanistan was until three days ago. How is that
possible? Bin Laden was behind the first WTC bombing, the bombing of the Cole and
the embassies in Africa -- ask yourself, how did we not pay attention? Pay attention
now. Know what is going on in our world. All we have is hope, unity and the ability
to open our eyes. Open them.
With much love, Yasmine
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