A Jihad Watch reader recently contacted me and sent me the letter below, which he has sent to the managers of his apartment complex in a large Western state in the U.S. It is illustrative of the difficulties that Islamic supremacists can cause in otherwise placid communities, including a considerable raising of tensions and hostilities where none were present before. In publishing this letter I have changed all the names in order to protect those who sent it.
May 9, 2012To Whom It May Concern,
We write this letter on behalf of our family and the Milton Community Apartments community with particular attention to the rights as stated in the lease that all residents "have the right to live in decent, safe housing," and that all residents must conduct themselves "in a manner that will not disturb your neighbors." This is achieved by applying and respecting neighbor’s and each resident's BOUNDARIES. We have the right to have our boundaries respected and address with management those who violate boundaries on a continuous basis.
This letter is a formal complaint regarding the conduct of our neighbors in Unit XXX. Additionally, we are filing a police report with regard to our neighbors' harassment and threats made on April 2, 2012.
From the first week we moved into our apartment, we were faced at our front door by the neighbor Maryam and her children. They introduced themselves as Muslims and make abrasive comments toward the community, declaring that "I can't stand this place. I've lived here for a long time and it's ugly. I can't stand the people around here or walking through this neighborhood. It's so boring, like suburbia. I wish we lived closer to downtown. Good luck with it here." Having just moved from [Redacted], we were certainly not in agreement, commenting on how new the buildings were and how nice it was to be surrounded by bike trails and the fields. Maryam asked us if we were going to have an issue with them being Muslim, to which we replied, "No, we don't have any prejudices with religion. That's not an issue with us and your religion is your own personal business."
Also in the first week, Maryam visited our apartment two nights in a row, concerned as she said, "My husband should not know I am here" stating we "should not be concerned about any of her attempts to convert us to Islam so that our children could play together". She spoke badly about her choice in converting to Islam and that said she disliked the attitude of superiority and "arrogance" the Muslims "impose" on non-Muslims. She complained that Muslims often used "double standards" and [were] "manipulative". She said she wanted to "get out of Islam." At no point did we ask for or encourage any of this information. At this time, she was still wearing the Muslim veil at all times outside of her house. She asked us to seek the approval of her husband so that her daughters could play with our 5 year old daughter, Elaine, and that we should invite him into our home for coffee from time to time. At this point, we had neither sought nor solicited their friendship. However, she imposed upon us that our son Thomas (8 years old at the time) would not be able to play on our own front porch because that's where her daughters were accustomed to playing. She reminded us that in the Muslim world, non-Muslim boys of Thomas's age could not play around Muslim girls. To this outrageous demand, Lisa replied, "Your religion cannot interfere with my lifestyle." We asked her to keep herself and her children in her front yard area, and realize that we had moved in and that we were occupying the apartment next door. We requested that our privacy be respected.
She disregarded any and all boundaries that we had requested to her. She would instruct her children (who were homeschoolers at the time) to sit in front of our door, porch and walkway, blocking the entrance to our apartment's front door with toys and food to the point that our son could not come in through the front door of our apartment. Thomas began complaining about having to use the back door as an entrance to the apartment. The community area and playground is facing our front door just across the parking lot. We asked Maryam to have her daughters play in the community area to which she replied, "My daughters are not allowed to play in the community area." Our children, Thomas and Elaine were encouraged to play and, under our supervision, did always play in the playground and community area with other children.
Every morning for more than two weeks, while our children were in school, Maryam's daughter Soraya would knock on our door demanding for Thomas to play with her. This was extremely confusing. Lisa knocked on Maryam's door to address the constant demand of her daughter toward Thomas and to address her daughter's climbing the tree outside our living room window, staring in at us throughout the day, Maryam accused Lisa of being angry and slammed the front door in her face.
The following day, Maryam invited two other Muslim women to sit and picnic on the grass area outside our window, talking for long periods of time at a distance of no more than 10 feet from our living room windows. Given that Lisa had been shut out at her attempt to communicate acceptable boundaries, I asked Maryam and her children not to climb the tree or to sit in our yard, once again, without success. Finally, we solved the situation by locking our bicycles at the base of the tree in our yard. When the landscapers came that week, the onsite manager came over and asked us to move the bikes so that the landscapers could mow the grass. We took the opportunity to tell the manager about the frustrating living situation we had been experiencing and asked for direct help to maintain boundaries and would she talk to Maryam. The manager spoke with Maryam and told us that Maryam's actions were not only an invasion of our privacy, but that climbing the trees was in violation of the Community rules. After two days of maintaining distance, Maryam reproached Lisa outside our front yard, saying, "This is our tree. You didn't have to go to the manager for that."
At the end of the summer, we began to see that Maryam's daughters were seeking our children's friendship in the community playground area, always when their father was away from the complex. They were ordered to come in immediately upon his return. Maryam established a relationship with our children through her children that was hidden from their father. Soon after, Maryam enrolled her older daughter into our children's public school and stopped wearing the Muslim veil and clothing. By Christmas, she decided to knock on our door and offer Lisa a gift, which Lisa interpreted as an apology for slamming the door. We did not seek nor encourage relations with Maryam despite the fact that our children did play together in the common area. Maryam sought our attention and began again offering information about her intentions and changes toward leaving Islam. She informed us again that she was very unhappy in her marriage and that she had stopped going to the mosque, but that she was forced to keep attending Muslim community meetings and social gatherings. Again, we requested distance and avoided any involvement in her private life. We did continue to hear frequent verbal arguments and fighting from next door. The yelling was very one-sided, as it was Maryam's husband who was shouting. We took the opportunity to communicate the bullying behavior of her oldest daughter Soraya (8 years old) toward our daughter Elaine (5 years old), exposing Elaine to the horrors of Hell as described in the Koran. We witnessed the children talking in the playground and Elaine coming in running and crying, explaining that Soraya (quoting passages from the Koran) had told her that she was "going to burn in boiling oil in Hell, having layers of her skin peeling off while being burnt alive for not being Muslim, and Santa Claus is not real and your parents lie." At this point we confronted Maryam with the bullying situation and she smiled in reply to the story saying, "That's because Soraya has started studying the Koran." No apology, no remorse, no sympathy whatsoever. Elaine was not able to sleep on her own for months and was traumatized by the visuals of such horrors. From this point on we want no contact whatsoever with Soraya. Maryam admits that Soraya is a bully. We demand that Soraya keep her distance from Elaine in the playground and stop calling Elaine's name from outside while Elaine is upstairs in her room. We demand that Maryam enforce this by supervising her child. Maryam says only, "I cannot cope."
April 2, 2012
Our son Thomas's tenth birthday. We have been celebrating with him throughout the day. At around 5:30pm, Elaine, our 6 year old daughter is upstairs playing a game on her computer. From our front walkway, Soraya calls Elaine through the upstairs window. Lisa and I tell Soraya not to talk to Elaine. "Stay away from Elaine. I told your mother (Maryam). We told Elaine not to play with you." Less than five minutes later, Soraya's father, Hassan, comes over knocks on the the door and I open. He asks loudly, "What is going on? Why is Soraya upstairs crying?"
I reply, "Soraya is upstairs crying because she wants you to be over here doing this right now. She's manipulating you."
He begins to shout. "There is a way to talk to the kids."
I reply, "You don't even know what's going on here. We've talked with Maryam. She knows what's going on. You should go home now."
He shouts, "Shut up. You don't interrupt me! You listen to me! You listen to me!" Lisa comes out the door and says "Michael, come inside."
He shouts, "You go inside, woman! You go inside woman!! This is man to man!"
I yell back at him. "You don't talk to her like that! You can take that shit back to Morocco!" He replies, "You have a problem with Islam?"
I reply, "I have a problem with you here right now yelling. You don't even know what's going on!"
Maryam is standing right behind him saying nothing. Lisa asks her, "Is this what you want? Is this what you wanted?" He squares off to me. I stand up to him. We are standing on my doorstep. I yell, "Fuck you. Go back to your house. Don't come to my home with this bullshit!"
I turn and go inside with Lisa. I immediately called the onsite manager, leaving a message on the Community voicemail. I told her if the man came back to my door I would call the police.
Since this event, we've spoken with Management. Our request is for a clear boundary to be set. Management has called in Maryam and Hassan. There has been no apology.
Two days later, Elaine was playing on the monkey bars with another child from the complex. Soraya came outside, again unsupervised, (as usual when she sees Elaine outside) and called her, "Elaine, Elaine!" to play with a ball. I went immediately outside and told Elaine not to engage in any way with Soraya. Walking back in, I told Soraya not to engage with Elaine. Soraya smiled at me and said, "I didn't mean to say "Elaine", I meant to say Manar" (her sister).
May 8, 2012
On Monday afternoon, Lisa was driving our car and I was in the front seat passenger side. We were heading home. As she approached the intersection of Mitchell Blvd. and Smith St., she signaled a left turn. There was oncoming traffic which she had to stop and wait for before proceeding through the intersection and making the turn. While waiting for the traffic to pass, Hassan and Maryam pulled up behind our car. Rather than wait for the traffic to pass and for us to make the turn (Mitchell Blvd. is a one lane road in either direction) Hassan pulled up very close to the rear of our car and then began to surge forward and to the right, as if to pass us. There was not enough room for a car to pass another in this single lane. Lisa pulled forward and over to the left when the traffic had passed. Hassan stopped his car and made eye contact and smirked. At that point, Lisa had crossed into Smith St. and stopped the car. Realizing it was Hassan taunting with his car (in reaction to his road rage and intimidation), she insulted him and gave him the finger. A few minutes after arriving home, the onsite manager came over to talk with us. She said Hassan had accused us of harassment and she wanted to know what happened. We told her exactly what happened. She explained that Hassan had not mentioned the fact of the oncoming traffic which we were waiting for to make our turn (accusing us of stopping in the middle of the road on purpose) and also mentioned that Hassan had asked Maryam "is that their (our) car?" before arriving at the intersection.
We would appreciate a meeting at this time to resolve the issue of our neighbor's unwillingness to respect and maintain personal boundaries. The onsite manager has proposed a meeting with her supervisor present. Our neighbor had previously declined this proposal. We need to resolve this situation with an authority present who can explain to our neighbor the rules of our community. It is entirely inappropriate to say one thing and to do another. We have expressed for months our wish that neighbor's child stay away from ours. Now we request that the entire family stay away from our family.
Sincerely yours,
Michael and Lisa Harrison
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I want to make a comment on this.
I work with several Muslims. They are friendly and considerate, and carry their share of the work. I have no issues whatsoever working with them and enjoy their company.
I am opposed to further Muslim immigration because the bedrock principles of Islam are counter to the cultural and legal system of the US. Although there are many Muslims who have adapted to the US and accept its atmosphere of tolerance and freedom, the large, politically powerful Muslim organizations exert their pressure as political cover for increasing recognition of Sharia law and against any organized opposition to further Muslim political power.
Also, in Europe, a large proportion of Muslim immigrants in communities is accompanied by increased crime, gang activity, and a general downplaying of the traditional culture.
Nevertheless, it is not exactly valid to cite one case of harassment by a Muslim individual. This immigrant family, as obnoxious as they were, did not bring other Muslims in, nor did they enlist their mosque or other organizations in the dispute. Thus, it could only be viewed as obnoxious individuals. The overbearing husband should never have been allowed into the country, and wouldn't be if there were any individual screening for immigrants left. His passive-aggressive, backstabbing wife would and will be involved in disputes wherever she lives.
In other words, it's important to not make group arguments from the acts of individuals.