Almost 18 years ago when I arrived to New York, one of the things that shocked me was the number of Moroccans who changed their names to western names. They told me then, and I was new in the city, that it was the way to get jobs and blend in society. And so I knew that I had to call simohamed, from casa, Simon, Farid, from Rabat Freddy, and Najib, a Titwani was called Nick. Of all those names, the last one made me laugh every time I called him, for he looked like no Nick at all. We all met in central park playing foot every afternoon, and because I was the new kid in the city, they were super good to me, just like you expect a Moroccan to be. but I always blamed them for changing their names to western ones, it actually made me respect them less and want to be with them less. Today I read this article: http://youth.ibn.net/editorial2.asp?ID=5 and it made me sad ones again. That because of terrorism and what Islam has become, many young Muslims are changing their names to avoid been looked at or harassed. It brought some memories to my mind and made me think, may be I was right to be a bit ashamed/embarrassed of my central park friends for changing their names, but I couldn’t feel the same for the ones who are doing it now to protect themselves and to say, in their way: I do not want to belong to the terrorists. I couldn’t find a good reason to disagree with them, I looked for one, but couldn’t find any. It’s sad that Muslim youths come to this, and it’s also sad that we all allowed a bunch of criminals to hijack a peaceful religion and tarnish it the way they did.OK, just shut up Almot!!!! //en.yabiladi.com/topics/when-simohamed-becomes-simon-44-672148-672148.html#msg-672148 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:11:14 +0200 Phorum 5.2.15