Welcome to the team, Noor!
August 23rd, 2010 by Sandbox
Noor Bin Ladin started an internship last Monday as a community manager at the Sandbox Zurich headquarters. She will stay with us for 6 months before moving to London, where she will remain involved on a reduced basis. We figured that her unconventional name might raise some questions so we decided to introduce her publicly and tell her interesting story.
Welcome to the Sandbox team, Noor! We are very glad to have you on board. What is your background? Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Thank you Antoine. I am from Switzerland, I was born and raised in Geneva. My mom is of Swiss, Iranian and Russian descent, and my father is Saudi.
After graduating high school from College du Léman and completing my Swiss Maturité Diploma, I went on to pursue my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Geneva. Extrovert and curious by nature, I enjoy meeting new people and exchanging ideas, learning from others and their experiences.
Why do you feel you have to give this interview?
Sandbox is an organization that unites young thinkers and doers who I am sure will contribute to shaping up the world and our future. I feel privileged to be a part of this family, I admire its inspiring members and I couldn’t be happier to be working with such a brilliant team. Upon joining this tight nit community, I am aware that my name will raise questions that have to be answered and Sandboxers are entitled to know who I am and where I stand.
What is your connection to the most famous of your family members?
Actually, apart that he is one of my father’s brother that I have never even met, none whatsoever.
Have you ever been to Saudi Arabia?
No, my parents and sisters Wafah and Najia already lived in Geneva when I was born. My parents split up when I was eight months old. My Mom was afraid that if my father took us to Saudi Arabia we would not return. She knew that women there are under the control of men, restricted in their freedom of choice, and that we would be forced to accept the dominance of men. She fought hard to obtain our custody. She wanted her girls to be raised open minded, just as she had been raised: without any religious constraints, and with respect of Western modern values.
Do you have any contact with the rest of your family?
As a result we were banned from the family. We are not in contact with any family members. My sisters and I tried several times to get in touch with our father but he refuses to see us probably because we do not behave as Saudi girls do.
How did you first hear about 9/11?
That tragic day was my second day in the ninth grade. My Mom and Wafah came to pick me up at school. The second plane had just hit, and my Mom rushed us home to meet my other sister Najia. We watched CNN in horror and disbelief as the Towers collapsed, the suffering and distress of all these innocent victims was such a tragedy. I cried all night, I was in shock. Just the year before, I had bought an American flag in South Carolina and pinned it to my wall. Then, an hour before our name was linked to these barbaric acts, my Mom took us and told us: “Listen, you have to prepare yourself. Your name is going to be everywhere in the news.” As soon as the second plane had hit, she had understood our lives would never be the same.
So your Mom knew Osama Bin Laden was behind everything?
My Mom was very aware of the danger of these extremists and had the conviction that the bombings in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 wouldn’t be the last. On September 9, 2001, when Commander Massoud of Afghanistan was assassinated, she realized that something terrible was about to happen. Commander Massoud, the leader of the only resistant force against the Taliban, could be the only help to the U.S. when they would be forced to retaliate. The extremists in the country wanted him removed, they were up to something big. But she could not imagine that they would target the US on their very soil and with such magnitude.
How were the next few days after the attacks like for you?
We were outraged by these horrific acts, saddened by the tragedy, thinking about all the victims and their families. I remember going to school the next day. People came up to me to ask if I was alright. I was a renown American by heart and was often teased about it, so they knew that I was devastated. At home, we had CNN on 24/7, and as we were the only Bin Ladins with a listed number, my Mom was trying to cope with the phone ringing all the time with journalists asking questions, and with the hatred calls, insults, and even death threats we were receiving.
Since then, how have you lived with that name?
We were in a quite difficult position – with no protection from the family on one side, and with a name that associated us with the most hated man in the West, in our world. In order to cut short all the legitimate amalgamation with our name and our true feelings and values, the 4 of us had to go public and explain our situation. My sisters and I had to overcome our fear and share our sadness and express that we strongly condemn these acts. We wanted our world to know where we stand, even if by doing so it meant becoming a target to extremists seeing us as traitors. That led to the publishing of my Mom’s book, Inside the Kingdom: My life in Saudi Arabia.
What’s the book about?
She had already put down in writing for the three of us her analysis of the Saudi society, before 9/11. She wanted us to understand why she had took difficult decisions, in order for us as girls to live our life entirely as we set out to, without having to answer to anybody else because of their gender. A woman is always under tutorship of a man in Saudi Arabia, her father or brother, until she gets married. She would always need the authorization of her husband to leave the country.
My Mom started fearing for the future of my sisters (I wasn’t born yet) as she thought about which brother would be in charge of them if something happened to our father. She had heard many horrifying stories in a country where a woman is put to death by her own grandfather for falling in love and wanting to elope, a country where a forced marriage can be arranged with a extremely religious cousin. More than a story of a Mother and her convictions to her daughters, the book is a great insight to understand a society that my Mom was able to analyze due to her privileged position.
Have you been to the United States since 9/11?
Yes, over half a dozen times.
Wasn’t it complicated for you to pass through immigration?
I have never had a bad experience with the customs officers. Of course I have to go through immigration (it wouldn’t be quite right if I didn’t) and wait for Washington to clear my entry but they have always been kind and open minded about my story. Once I was entering US territory through Logan airport and had everything checked for about two hours. During that time we talked, I told them about my Mom, her battle for our freedom, and how we are “westernized”. Upon checking the content of my IPod, the officer turned to me and said “Yeah, you really are westernized!”.
In general, Americans have been really supportive. People in New York sometimes stop my Mom in the street to tell her how brave she is and how much they appreciated her book. Their understanding and kindness helped me cope with the burden of my name.
Did you ever think of changing your name?
No. My Mom, both my sisters and I have nothing to hide and we feel changing our name would be lying to people about who we are, we choose to explain.
What does carrying the name Bin Ladin mean to you?
As you can imagine, It has been quite difficult carrying a name that is associated with terror in the world I live in, with a man who took so many innocent lives and whose values are so opposed to mine, who attacked a country that I love.
I believe it’s a whole, the fact of being born in that family and cultural background and with that name has shaped me. It has made me more aware and truly appreciate my freedom of choice and not take it for granted. I feel blessed to have the freedom to decide for myself and choose my path in my life. I realize that many girls in this world are denied their fundamental right of choice and my heart goes out to them.
Antoine Verdon is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Sandbox. He is continuously amazed by the drive and the positive energy of Lilly and Noor, the two Sandbox community managers, and is proud to be working with such a great team!
