heb’s Reviews > Coming of Age in the War on Terror > Status Update

The moment Islamophobia was acknowledged I felt an unbearable paradox, one that follows you as a Muslim navigating a world at war on terror, indeed as a person of colour in a white man’s world: you want racism to be acknowledged, but you know that as soon as it is, you are necessarily characterised as victim. The complex, relentless work of claiming agency, of denying victimhood but seeking justice, of trying to...

Fadi, a 17-year-old devout Muslim boy at Inner West Islamic School, put it this way: ‘I’m not afraid of terrorism. I’m afraid of being accused of being a terrorist.’

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"One statement Paul made stood out for me: 'you just notice the Muslims more.'

To notice, and be noticed, is deeply political. To be ignored, and to therefore be enabled, is equally political. And dangerous."