GirlGI | Girl Gone International Issue 9 | Page 80

7.
After 9/11 and the horrific anti-Islam,
extremism, anti-American episodes and
the growing negative rhetoric on Muslim
culture, I grew ashamed of my own
identity, culture and religion. I even
started to develop stress episodes of
excessive sweating and heavy breathing
when I go through the airport security of
any Western country.

8.
Although this is a horrific reality, I was
determined to rise above it and show
the world that the Islam portrayed in
the media is not the Islam that I
practice nor is it the Islam of my
parents or their parents before them.

9.
In this quest, I received my MA from a
prestigious school abroad to research
the relationship of the media and its
effects on global terrorism in different
countries around the world.