I feel numb and I'm struggling to find words. My mom and I were in the air two hours before the suicide bombers hit the international terminal at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. What broke me to tears was thinking about Stephanie, a Transy classmate killed in the Brussels airport terrorist attack, whose family and friends were likely doing the same thing my family and friends were - texting, emailing, calling. Fearful, nervous, anxious. "The longest hour and a half of my life." I was shaking and crying on the plane to think that had we arrived to the international terminal just four hours later, we could have been casualties. I cried more to think about my friends and family who were checking flight times and comparing notes and praying with every fiber of their being that we were in the air, far from the carnage.
I don't have the words to express the gratitude for the prayers and for everyone reaching out. Thank you. I pray this is the closest I ever come, ever again, to such horror. I will never forget landing in Spain, my mom and I turning on our phones, and the texts, emails, messages, and posts pouring in. It was surreal, stultifying. I was shaking as I read through every message and typed responses as fast as I could.
As I sit in our hotel room, wired up on adrenaline and unable to sleep, my thoughts turn to all those who died, and all those who face a more constant and daily threat of terrorism than we do in the West:
I pray that we all remember that some of those who died were likely Turks, some were more than likely Muslims, and they were more than likely just trying to get through security so they could break their Ramadan fast.
Terrorist attacks in the west lead to Facebook creating profile picture "filters" (the French tricolor) and "check ins." I hope we'll see a "Stand with Turkey" Facebook filter following this horror, but sadly, I doubt we will.
Please remember that in the global fight against terror, it is our Muslim brothers and sisters who are at the front lines of the suffering and the fight. Stand with them. Already on Twitter, you can find a diatribe of Islamophobia. It's sickening.
Please, keep the prayers for Turkey coming, especially during this holy month of Ramadan. But in addition to prayers, consider changing your Facebook profile picture to the Turkish flag. Stand in solidarity with Turkey, and all Muslims, who fight to stop terrorism and who sometimes pay the ultimate price. We are all human - and hate does not differentiate. Hate kills.
I don't have the words to express the gratitude for the prayers and for everyone reaching out. Thank you. I pray this is the closest I ever come, ever again, to such horror. I will never forget landing in Spain, my mom and I turning on our phones, and the texts, emails, messages, and posts pouring in. It was surreal, stultifying. I was shaking as I read through every message and typed responses as fast as I could.
As I sit in our hotel room, wired up on adrenaline and unable to sleep, my thoughts turn to all those who died, and all those who face a more constant and daily threat of terrorism than we do in the West:
I pray that we all remember that some of those who died were likely Turks, some were more than likely Muslims, and they were more than likely just trying to get through security so they could break their Ramadan fast.
Terrorist attacks in the west lead to Facebook creating profile picture "filters" (the French tricolor) and "check ins." I hope we'll see a "Stand with Turkey" Facebook filter following this horror, but sadly, I doubt we will.
Please remember that in the global fight against terror, it is our Muslim brothers and sisters who are at the front lines of the suffering and the fight. Stand with them. Already on Twitter, you can find a diatribe of Islamophobia. It's sickening.
Please, keep the prayers for Turkey coming, especially during this holy month of Ramadan. But in addition to prayers, consider changing your Facebook profile picture to the Turkish flag. Stand in solidarity with Turkey, and all Muslims, who fight to stop terrorism and who sometimes pay the ultimate price. We are all human - and hate does not differentiate. Hate kills.
