9/11: a decade after tragedy struck

   It's been 10 years, but he can still hear the pilot's voice in the back of his head, announcing the terrorist attack.

   Hasnain Walji, vice chair of the Orange County Interfaith Peace Ministry, shared his 9/11 experiences with a packed Wallace All Faiths Chapel Sunday night, hoping to dispel religious intolerance. On the day the Twin Towers were attacked, Walji was on a nine-hour flight from London to Dallas, Texas. Seven hours into the flight, the plane landed in Toronto, where the pilot announced the message that has haunted Walji for years.

   "He said, ‘folks, we have been attacked,'" Walji said. "Those words continue to ring in my head to this day."

   Walji spoke on behalf of the Muslim religious community. He was one of several speakers representing religions including the Jewish, Sikh, Baha'i and Disciples of Christ.

   Elizabeth Walker, representing Circle of the Triple Goddess, a Wiccan faith, read a pagan Irish prayer about loss and mourning.

   Marcia Tilchin, a cantor at Congregation B'nai Israel, a synagogue in Tustin,  sung Psalm 23 in Hebrew. Tilchin lived in New York at the time of the bombings, and spoke about how the city's population bonded through the tragedy.

   "I was living on one end of the island, and it happened on the other," Tilchin said. "Ten years ago today, I became a New Yorker."

   Laila Shikaki, a graduate student who came to Chapman to study creative writing from her home country of Palestine, sat in the crowd, wearing a lilac flower-

print hijab, or head scarf. Shikaki said that after 9/11 she was treated differently because of her Muslim faith.

   "I personally had that, where you were checked in the airport and it wasn't that random," she said.

   However, interfaith events have allowed her to stay optimistic. The tragedy of 9/11 bloomed a dedication to unity and acceptance among different religions, she said.

   "All the people from all religions lost someone on that day," Shikaki said. "It brought us all together."

   Walji said that the choice of venue for the event was to provide the younger generation of students with information and religious context of 9/11.

   "My religion had been hijacked by people who had no idea what it is," Walji said. "I think we can enhance understanding that we're all human and we have the same sentiments."

   Lauren Fox, sophomore business major, was one of the undergraduate students who attended. She was still in grade school when the Twin Towers fell.

   "It brought a lot of fear into kids lives when they realized what happened wasn't just a movie," Fox said.

   Murtaza Haji, a resident of Rancho Palos Verde, Calif., drove to campus with his family after his mosque told him about the event. He said the best part was seeing people of different religions gathered together.

   "We're trying to make the most of the worst possible event we've witnessed," he said.