After a beautiful and wonderful Shabbos, about which I hope to write more later, we were dismayed to discover scribbles all over the wall when you first walk into our building. Most of the scribbles were poorly drawn swastikas, and as our apartment is the very first one when you come into the building, the first thing we see when we open our door is a wall full of them. Along with the swastikas, someone poured oil all over the floor, which means most of it is right outside my door; already, one friend didn't notice it, slipped, and while - thank God - she didn't fall, she did get oil on her comfy new shoe leaving a large black mark. The superintendent came a few minutes ago to clean it up, after I called him about an hour earlier; he's an Armenian, and was quite disgusted.
Our building has 12 units and you have to either have a key or be let into the building; 6 of the units are Orthodox Jews, one a nice lady in her 80's, one a nice Latino family, and one a mean-seeming black lady with her cute 3-year old granddaughter. There's also a strange couple upstairs who prefer collecting garbage over anything else, one unit I don't know who lives in, and one Arab family with kids that are often completely crazy - including once leaving papers with nasty drawings and the words KILL KILL all over them, and another time banging on my door with my (then-pregnant) wife home alone and threatening to stab her.
The scribbles look like they were done by kids, meaning the most obvious culprits are our Arab neighbors - kids who the super can't stand both because he's Armenian and because of the damage they do. Whether it was them or someone else, though, it's beyond sickening.
What a bunch of sick bastards.
EDIT: I should have noticed this earlier. All the scribbles and swastikas were at heights between my thighs and my chest, which means: Kids. Pretty little kids, too...
I took a picture of the wall, and another of the oil. I'm still debating what to do about this; my brother suggested I ask a certain person tomorrow, which makes sense to me. Thank you all for your suggestions and support. Meanwhile, I left a message for our landlord about it, and I'm sure the super will inform him tomorrow as well.
Wow that's crazy. I wish I could give you some legal advice but I have no clue what your rights are. Just disgusting.
ReplyDeleteThat is really sick. How awful.
ReplyDeleteYou should absolutely report it to the police. It's important for the statistics on hate crimes to be correct. If you really do believe that it's the kids next door, make the police question them. Let the kids shake a little and be afraid before the next time they want to mess with jews.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry- that sounds very unpleasant.
that is disturbing. just be alert & careful.
ReplyDeleteYou should report to the ADL. Try Joel Levy, he's NY Regional Board. If you need any help, please let me know. They are very good about dealing with these incidents.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that this happened to you. You should definitely talk to the police.
ReplyDeleteWow So Sad. Totally call the police-Not 911 but the other local number. They would need to know if this happened at a shul or yeshiva or school, and should know if it happens at your apartment (even if its just the Arab kids). Hope all is well with you, Serach and Elianna. Sarah
ReplyDelete*shudder*
ReplyDeleteYou have to document this and report it.
ReplyDeleteI have my own ideas of how to deal with with this and none of them would constitute "legal advice." In fact you might need legal advice just for my advice.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to give legal advice, it sounds like you should look into protection orders (orders of protection? Eh, what do I know?).
Very unpleasant Ezzie, sorry to hear about this.
ReplyDeleteWow, Ezzie, that's both sick and scary. I truly hope you will report it to the police...you and your family's safety come before anything. Please let us know how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteWow. all those things done by children? This is not just hate. This is clinical.
ReplyDeleteWow - sorry that had to happen. Scary. Definitely document and take to the police. You know, what everyone else said!
ReplyDeleteKeep us posted!
Bastards. (The parents that is)
ReplyDeleteVery sorry that this happened.
ReplyDeleteits not a hate drime, its a crime of ignorance. theres a group of kids who i pass often and one time they saw me dressed for shabbos and yelled "heil hitler" they dont know any better and have no clue what it means. to us its scary, to them theres no diff between a swastika or any other symbol.
ReplyDeleteanonymous: I wouldn't be so sure about that.
ReplyDeleteE-kvetcher has it right. The rotten apple doesn't fall far from the diseased tree.
ReplyDeleteI cam from Irina's and my opinion is just because they're kids, doesn't mean that you should tolerate such symbols of hate...I'd complain to everyone including the police and especially the ADL who have done a magnificent job in my are routing out skinhead idiots who spend their weekly allowance on spray paint cans.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had to be subjected to the spawn of parents who aren't watching their kids even though it's apparant the kids are watching and listening to the parents...or why would they do such a thing?
Sticky keys...cam is came and are is area
ReplyDeleteThanks all. In the end, I believe a neighbor called the police.
ReplyDeleteWe aren't tolerating it, and we left a message with the landlord as well. If there's a way to prove that the kids did it, I'm reasonably certain the landlord would take care it; if there isn't, it will be far more difficult for him (a Jewish landlord) to evict them.
To some extent, anon is right - they are kids who don't fully appreciate what it means. But CM is right as well: They DO know that it's offensive to Jews - whether taught by their parents or not.