Al Jazeera World-Fear, Anger and Politics-part 1

More than 10 years ago, the 9/11 terrorist attacks left a gaping hole in New York - and across the US as a whole.

This open wound continues to divide communities to this day.

In this two-part documentary, Al Jazeera follows the stories of some of those caught up in the anti-terrorist crackdown that followed 9/11 as they speak out about the injustices they have endured and their fears of a rising Islamophobia in the US.

Filmmaker's view

By Nadia Zouaoui

I am a journalist and documentary filmmaker of Algerian origin who has been living in Canada since 1988. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I have witnessed the different ways in which Muslims in the US and Canada are treated. Crossing the American borders if you are a Muslim man is a risk that many are afraid to take.

But I had always thought that perhaps this fear was exaggerated and that Muslims in North America were viewing themselves as victims.

I was astounded then by a 2010 ABC News/Washington Post poll that showed that 46 per cent of Americans said they held unfavourable attitudes towards Islam - compared with 24 per cent in January 2002 - and that more than half of the American population believes there are more violent extremists within Islam than in any other religion.

Adama Bah: 'I spent my 17th birthday in jail'

Adama Bah is a student who was detained for weeks on the suspicion that she might be a suicide bomber. She was born in Guinea, but came to the US when she was a couple of months old.

"I think I was 14 when 9/11 happened. At that time I was going to a boarding school in Buffalo. Before 9/11 I was a regular kid, going to school, worrying about what you wore, worrying about the boy next door," she says.

Shaheena Parveen: 'My son is a victim of cheating and conspiracy'

Shaheena Parveen is a Pakistani immigrant and an activist whose son, Shahawar Matin Siraj, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006 by a federal judge for plotting to bomb the Herald Square subway station in 2004.

"We came here to flee from religious persecution because we are Aga Khani Ismaili. On June 7, 1999 our family came to America from Pakistan …. We always wanted to come to America because we believed there would be good opportunities for our kids. From his childhood, Matin [Shaheena's son] was very honest and clearheaded but a little naïve. I kept him close to me because he is very gullible," she says.