Ivo Skoric on Tue, 18 Sep 2001 22:17:41 +0200 (CEST) |
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[Nettime-bold] A view from Pakistani survivor of WTC attack |
Bill Pierre, head of the AFSC's International Programs' Middle East Region circulated this -- I don't know where he got it, and it may be more apocryphal than an actual first-hand account, but the themes are worth sharing -- > > Subject: First hand account from a Muslim in the WTC > > > salaam everyone, > > something i think we all must read. remember that of the dead, injured > and > missing, there are an estimated 10-15% muslims. > > masalaama, > > itrath > > ------------ > > My name is Usman Farman and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degr= ee > last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and = I > am Muslim. Until September 10th 2001, I used to work at the World Trade > Center in building #7. I had friends and acquaintances who worked in tow= er > #1 right across from me. Some made it out, and some are still unaccounte= d > for. I survived this horrible event. > > I'd like to share with you what I went through that awful day, with the > hopes that we can all stay strong together; through this tragedy of yet > untold proportions. As I found out, regardless of who we are, and where = we > come from, we only have each other. > > I commute into the city every morning on the train from New Jersey. > Rather, I used to. I still can=EDt believe what is happening. That morni= ng I > woke up and crawled out of bed. I was thinking about flaking out on the > train and > catching the late one, I remember telling myself that I just had to get = to > work on time. I ended up catching the 7:48 train, which put me in Hoboke= n > at 8:20 am. When I got there I thought about getting something to eat, I > decided against it and took the PATH train to the World Trade Center. I > arrived at the World Trade at 8:40 in the morning. I walked into the lob= by > of building 7 at 8:45, that=EDs when the first plane hit. > > Had I taken the late train, or gotten a bite to eat, I would have been 5 > minutes late and walking over the crosswalk. Had that happened, I would > have been caught under a rain of fire and debris, I wouldn=EDt be here > talking to you. I=EDd be dead. > > I was in the lobby, and I heard the first explosion; it didn't register. > They were doing construction outside and I thought some scaffolding had > fallen. I took the elevators up to my office on the 27th floor. When I > walked in, the whole place was empty. There were no alarms, no sprinkler= s, > nothing. Our offices are, or rather, were on the south side of building > seven. We were close enough to the North and South Towers, that I could > literally throw a stone from my window and hit the North tower with it. > > My phone rang and I spoke with my mother and told her that I was leaving= , > at that moment I saw an explosion rip out of the second building. I call= ed > my friend in Boston, waking her up and told her to tell everyone I=EDm o= kay, > and > that I was leaving. I looked down one last time and saw the square and > fountain that I eat lunch in, was covered in smoldering debris. > Apparently, I was one of the last to leave my building, when I was on th= e > way up in the > elevators; my co-workers from the office were in the stairwells coming > down. > When I evacuated, there was no panic. People were calm and helping each > other; a pregnant woman was being carried down the stairwell. > > I=EDll spare the more gruesome details of what I saw, those are things t= hat > no one should ever have to see, and beyond human decency to describe. > Those are things which will haunt me for the rest of my life, my heart > goes out to > everyone who lost their lives that day, and those who survived with the > painful reminders of what once was. Acquaintences of mine who made it ou= t > of the towers, only got out because 1000 people formed a human chain to > find > their way out of the smoke. Everyone was a hero that day. > > We were evacuated to the north side of building 7. Still only 1 block fr= om > the towers. The security people told us to go north and not to look back= . > 5 city blocks later I stopped and turned around to watch. With a thousan= d > people staring, we saw in shock as the first tower collapsed. No one cou= ld > believe it was happening, it is still all too-surreal to imagine. The ne= xt > thing I remember is that a dark cloud of glass and debris about 50 stori= es > high came tumbling towards us. I turned around and ran as fast as > possible. I didn=EDt realize until yesterday that the reason I=EDm still > feeling so sore was that I fell down trying to get away. What happened > next is why I came > here to give this speech. > > I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching, it mus= t > have been 600 feet off, everything was already dark. I normally wear a > pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety; > similar > to the cross. A hesidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in > his hand, and looked at it. He read the Arabic out loud for a second. Wh= at > he said next, I will never forget. With a deep Brooklyn accent he said > =ECBrother, if you don=EDt mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us,= grab > my hand, lets get the hell out of here=EE. He helped me stand up, and we= ran > for what seemed like forever without looking back. He was the last perso= n > I would ever have thought, who would help me. If it weren=EDt for him, I > probably would have been engulfed in shattered glass and debris. > > I finally stopped about 20 blocks away, and looked in horror as tower #2 > came crashing down. Fear came over me as I realized that some people wer= e > evacuated to the streets below the towers. Like I said before, no one > could > have thought those buildings could collapse. We turned around and in sho= ck > and disbelief and began the trek to midtown. It took me 3 hours to get t= o > my sisters office at 3 avenue and 47th street. Some streets were > completely > deserted, completely quiet, no cars, no nothing=D6 just the distant wail= of > sirens. I managed to call home and say I was okay, and get in touch with > co-workers and friends whom I feared were lost. > > We managed to get a ride to New Jersey. Looking back as I crossed the > George Washington Bridge, I could not see the towers. It had really > happened. > > As the world continues to reel from this tragedy, people in the streets > are lashing out. Not far from my home, a Pakistani woman was run over on > purpose as she was crossing the parking lot to put groceries in her car. > Her only fault? That she had her head covered and was wearing the > traditional clothing of my homeland. I am afraid for my family=EDs well > being within our community. My older sister is too scared to take the > subway into work now. > My 8-year-old sister=EDs school is under lockdown and armed watch by pol= ice. > Violence only begets violence, and by lashing out at each other in fear > and hatred, we will become no better than the faceless cowards who > committed > this atrocity. If it weren=EDt for that man who helped me get up, I woul= d > most likely be in the hospital right now, if not dead. Help came from th= e > least expected place, and goes only to show, that we are all in this > together =D6 > regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Those are principles that th= is > country was founded on. > > Please take a moment to look at the people sitting around you. Friends o= r > strangers, in a time of crisis, you would want the nearest person to hel= p > you if you needed it. My help came from a man who I would never have > thought > would normally even speak to me. Ask yourselves now how you can help tho= se > people in New York and Washington. You can donate blood, you can send > clothing, food, and money. Funds have been setup in the New York area to > help the families of fallen firefighters, policemen, and emergency > personnel. The one thing that won=EDt help, is if we fight amongst > ourselves, because it is then that we are doing exactly what they want u= s > to do, and I know that nobody here wants to do that. > > My name is Usman Farman and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degr= ee > last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and = I > am Muslim, and I too have been victimized by this awful tragedy. The nex= t > time > you feel angry about this, and perhaps want to retaliate in your own way= , > please remember these words: "Brother, if you don't mind, there is a clo= ud > of glass coming at us, grab my hand, lets get the hell out of here." > > ***LET'S JOIN TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY AND DONATE TO HELP THOSE IN NEED**= * > > > Bill Pierre > Director > Middle East Region > AFSC International Programs > e-mail: bpierre@afsc.org > phone: 215-241-7142 > fax: 215-241-7026 > > _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold