Islamophobia. The prejudice or hate against the Islamic community is generally rarely discussed in Calgary. However, many Muslims like Aisha Birani and Fatima Zulfikar, are affected by the issue regularly.
“I have a friend that, after one of the attacks in America, I don’t really remember [which one] exactly, she went in, she was sick, she went into a doctor’s office and one person stood up and said, ‘I don’t wanna be here if she’s gonna be here,” Birani said.
The hate doesn’t end there. Zulfikar explained what happened to her friend when a teacher verbally harassed them, calling them terrorists, “… she got so offended that she stopped wearing the hijab the next day.”
Video shot, produced, and edited by Malak Amche & Sarah Kirk
mamche@cjournal.ca & skirk@cjournal.ca
The editor responsible for this article is Josie Lukey and can be contacted at jlukey@cjournal.ca