Posted on 10/21/2001 9:50:35 PM PDT by Atticus
This evening I had dinner at an Indian (Hindu) restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey. During the meal, several people at our table were discussing pictures of the World Trade Center (pre-9/11) that were on display at a framing gallery next door. When we left the restaurant, I decided to check the pictures out for myself. It was a wonderful tribute: an American flag surrounded by four or five balck and white posters and photographs of the twin towers taken from different angles, some during the day, some at night.
Then something surreal happened. As we started to walk toward our car, three Arab men in their early 20s passed us. I am no expert in ethnic identity, but I am absoltely sure the men were Arab and definitely not Indian or hispanic. They were speaking to each other in their native tongue. As they walked past the storefront with the pictures of the WTC, one of the men looked at the pictures and then said something to his friends to draw their attention to the pictures. Then the three of them bursted out laughing and walked away. My blood boiled and I shouted at them. I think my words were, "Hey, you think that's funny, you f*#%ing Arabs?" They just waled along, oblivious to me. It was a sad and chilling experience.
I sure do. That's why I am holding my nose.
According to the author it was Arabs, not pablum-puking liberals.
Hello officer. I saw some folks who I think were Arab laughing while walking past WTC photos.
Officer: "We'll get right on it sir".
What an outrage!!
You're making a fool out of yourself with comments like that to people you don't have a clue about.
Yes - send them back to all of the 'stans'....in as many boxes...
Why don't you give a fellow Freeper a little credit? I did not just roll off of the pumpkin wagon. I have been to the middle east and have had a number of Arab friends, colleagues and classmates over the years. I do not speak or understand Arabic, but I can distinguish it from most other languages. I ruled out other ethnicities because there have been reports of unjustified attacks on people who were ignorantly mistaken for Arabs. Upon seeing these men, I took them to be Arabs. Their conduct is proof that my initial hunch was correct.
My post said noting about deportation, nothing about internment camps, and nothing about visiting any violence on these men. Nor did I say or even suggest that they are terrorists. At a minimum, I believe they are sympathetic to the forces that destroyed the WTC and terrorized and murdered thousands of civilians. I also believe they have no sympathy for Americans and no appreciation of our way of life. In sum, they are part of a cancer that has spread throughout our country. If I am mistaken and they were just engaging in a little harmless Arab humor, that's just too bad.
I do not need sensitivity lessons. It is these three Arab men who need it. Go lecture to them. They made their comments in front of a group of "white" Americans including three children as well as a person (my father), who was on the 44th floor of the North Tower when the first plane struck and who witnessed unspeakable carnage incluing the sight of dead bodies, people leaping to their deaths, and the collapse of two buildings containing perhaps as many as five thousand souls.
Montclair? Isn't that where the "Cheaper By The Dozen" family was from?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.