Prof. Monia Mazigh, recently appointed as adjunct professor to the Department of English and Literature, has just published an op-ed at the Ottawa Citizen about her own experience as a Muslim Canadian two decades after the events of 9/11.
In “9/11 aftermath: A life destroyed by the ‘War of Terror’,” Prof. Mazigh reflects upon the “disappearance” of her own husband, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian descent, arrested and later deported by the American authorities to Jordan and who ended up in a Syrian prison where he was tortured and held with no charge for over a year. From this personal tragedy, Prof. Mazigh moves to shed a light on the harsh national security laws that were hastily passed and affected the lives of many members of the Muslim community in Canada.
In a previous a article, “The roots of Islamophobia are much deeper than most Canadians can comprehend,” published at the Ottawa Citizen, Prof. Mazigh explains how there are two manifestations of anti-Muslim hate. The first one is more visible, taking the form of hateful incidents, and the other is more insidious, not sanctioned by the state but still having tragic effects.