Internment Quotes

“The scariest monsters are the ones who seem the most like you.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“A compass doesn’t tell you where you are, and it doesn’t tell you where you have to go. It can only point you in a direction. It’s up to you to always find your true north.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“What’s that thing people always say about history? Unless we know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it? Never forget? Isn’t that the lesson? But we always forget. Forgetting is in the American grain.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“But it's also a reminder that being quiet doesn't always signify weakness. Sometimes it takes great strength to find that silence. Sometimes it takes incredible strength to survive.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Praying is important. But you can’t simply pray for what you want. You have to act.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“If history had no ghosts, I wouldn’t be terrified of what might come next.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“I roll my eyes, since every Muslim understands the hypocrisy of right-wing xenophobes. They’re all terrified of a word they don’t understand, scared that religious law is going to infiltrate the land, but meanwhile they support the death penalty, are anti-choice, and think creationism should be taught in schools because of… wait for it… religion.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“America is us. America is ours. It’s worth fighting for. The people united will never be defeated. Resist.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“There’s never been a wall that people haven’t been able to get by.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“I look around as people take seats in our segregated sections—South Asian, African American, Arab, Southeast Asian. East Asian and Latinx, too, though they seem to be fewer in number. Soheil was right. Everything is deliberate. Divide and conquer. We may all be Muslims, but we still have our prejudices and racism. It’s simpler to play on our internalized “-isms” if you separate us and feed our fears—easier to make us “other” ourselves and do the Director’s work for him. Today, we’re all Muslims who’ve been forced here, but maybe it wouldn’t be hard to tap into our bigotry to turn us against one another, to turn our gaze away from where our anger should really be directed. Classic colonial conquest strategy. Just ask the British.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“One detail that’s impossible to miss? Just like in the train station, every person with a gun is white, and not white like maybe they’re Bosnian—the kind of white that thinks internment camps are going to make America great again.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“They can take away my freedom, but not my fantastic ability to hold a grudge.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“The thing is, it’s not like half this country suddenly became Islamophobes because of any single event. But the lies, the rhetoric calling refugees rapists and criminals, the fake news, the false statistics, all gave those well-meaning people who say they’re not bigots cover to vote for a man who openly tweeted his hatred of us on a nearly daily basis.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“I think of all the people throughout history who found themselves in a place like this, stepping out from the shadows, raising their voices. Finding their courage, facing their fears so that they could be free. There were so many we lost, the ones who were taken, cut down, for the color of their skin, or the religion they practiced, or the person they loved. All they wanted was to live.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“They stay quiet, using their silence and privilege as a shield to protect themselves.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“The stars have all gone out. Only darkness remains.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“The people united will never be defeated. Resist.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Rebellion is as American as apple pie. And so is fascism.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“We face the crowd near the fence and raise our fists. Like I’ve seen in old pictures of the Olympics in 1968, and the NoDAPL protests that have been going on for years, and women in India fighting for justice for rape victims, and the teens—just like me—at the March for Our Lives. It’s a simple gesture, and a beautiful one. It calls out through dusty pages of history and echoes from those whose shoulders I stand on—the ones who were hosed down but never retreated, who were beaten but persisted, and the ones whose voices were locked behind walls but whose spirits were never broken. The people united will never be defeated.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“He said that my fear made me more alert. That I could channel my fear into focus.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“It's not about danger. It's about fear. People are willing to trade their freedom, even for a false sense of protection.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Since 9/11, the fear of the entire nation allowed us to pass laws that brought us into your homes and your bedrooms and your thoughts.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Like Sharia law for Christians.” I roll my eyes, since every Muslim understands the hypocrisy of right-wing xenophobes. They’re all terrified of a word they don’t understand, scared that religious law is going to infiltrate the land, but meanwhile they support the death penalty, are anti-choice, and think creationism should be taught in schools because of… wait for it… religion.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“In American Lit class once, we discussed America as a metaphor tying it into how the country is represented in books, movies, songs. You know, America is a melting pot. America is a mixed salad. America is a shining city on a hill. America is the country where a skinny kid with a funny name can defeat the odds and become president. But America doesn’t seem like any of those things anymore. Maybe it never was.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“You need only glance to the vastness of the sky and the multitude of the stars to know the infinite depth of our love.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“In the quiet of night, the heart knows the lies you told to survive.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“you can never escape your lies, even if you think you have. Even if it was to survive. The lies—your deception—are always with you.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“It’s like he’s not even a real person. But the thing is, he is a person, which I guess makes it even more frightening.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“It’s not about danger. It’s about fear. People are willing to trade their freedom, even for a false sense of protection”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s doing the right thing in spite of it.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment