Halima Aden Quotes

Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative - it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you're the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.

If you ever forget you're a Jew, a Gentile will remind you.

I was often looked at as a leper by kids at school because I was a Jehovah's Witness. They didn't like it - you were 'weird'. And on Saturday mornings, you'd be knocking at their doors. I remember standing there with my mum and dad, thinking, 'Oh my God, I know whose door this is, and I'll have to see them on Monday.' It was terrible.

Sometimes, people can be extraordinarily judgmental and closed-minded to anyone different or special, which is why it's so hard for young people in this day and age to be comfortable enough in their own skin to not listen to the people picking on them.

The Jews are a race and not a religion. My goal was not to persecute the Jews but to enlighten Gentiles to put them on guard.

You can talk about and think about Muslims as you want, but you can't stop Muslims from building a mosque. You can hate Muslims from the comfort of your house or publicly, but when that becomes stopping Muslims from building a mosque or worshipping, then we are crossing the line into something else.

I used to get made fun of a lot for being a male dancer, especially growing up in Boston. Kids are terrible, they don't realize how heavy words can be.

Since 9/11 there is ample evidence of evil in terms of attacks on Muslims purely because of the faith they belong to.

I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam.

We sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the nations in which we lived seeking just to preserve the faith, the religion of our fathers but this has not been allowed to us.

Being culturally ambiguous and having to deal with bullying made me strong and independent.

Our culture is a very diverse one, and I think now it is incredibly dangerous and very wrong to persecute Muslims and say there is something wrong with being a Muslim.

Silence on the part of public officials at the national level only serves to empower Islamophobes.

Anti-Semitism is a rotten thing. It's an ignorant, stupid, horrible thing. As is anti-Muslim feeling. They have to be together.

Shortly after he became the first Muslim to attend cabinet, I urged Sadiq Khan to be prepared. The Islamophobes, the new McCarthyites, would at some stage come after him. He laughed it off. Yet it was only a matter of time.

I had kids make fun of me because not only was I blonde but also Polish.

I'm not going to allow this world to make my son scared of saying he's a Muslim.

The only tweets I feel bad about are the fat-chick ones.

I was teased a lot, growing up, because of my skin tone.

I grew up as one of the few Jews in Edison, and I had people tell me they hated me because of my religion.

I did notice growing up that there are so many things, obstacles and things, that people think you can't do because you're Muslim or because you're wearing a hijab. You hear a lot of no's. That was something that I wanted to see change.

Do I disagree that we need to ban all Muslims from entering the country? Yes, I disagree with that strongly.

Muslims remain the most convenient target for prejudice in a city like Delhi, which is far more ghettoized than Bombay or Bangalore, for example.

Fans insult me and call me 'monkey.' At first, I was quite shocked, but now I do not give it importance.

I was teased about Indian food and the colour of my skin and why my knees and elbows were dark.