В двух блоках от меня кто-то подкладывает на перекрёстках коробки с обувью и арабскими письменами. Пять штук за этот месяц. 
Это что, Чёрная Метка?
NEW HAVEN>> Shoes with Arabic writing attached to them have been popping up in Westville over the past month, according to police.
There were five packages found between Nov. 30 and Dec. 28. All were near the intersection of West Elm Street and Alden Avenue.
“At this point it’s just kind of weird,” said Sgt. Renee Forte, district manager for Westville. “No threats have been made; no one group has been targeted.”
Police are investigating and the shoes have been taken by police. Police ask anyone with information about the incidents to call them at the main non-emergency number 203-946-6316 or the Westville substation number 203-946-6255.
The various messages attached to the footwear were translated and include: “Blacks, whites lie,” “Chinese lie,” “Germans lie,” and “British lie.” One note included the numbers “911” on it.
The instances included:
-Nov. 30: The first package was a boot with a white piece of paper left on the sidewalk of West Elm Street and Marvel Road.
-Dec. 23: A sneaker was left on a stool and a bag was attached to a telephone pole at West Elm Street and Alden Avenue. A note was found in the bag.
-Dec. 24: A plastic bag was attached to the same telephone pole and contained a sneaker with an attached notecard.
-Dec. 25: Again a shopping bag that contained a sneaker and note card was found attached to the pole.
-Dec. 28: A white plastic bag with a note and a flip-flop sandal were found at the pole.
The author of at least the notes wrote that he will not be found.
Westville Quality Market owner Rahul Gandhi said he has called police about the incidents.
“People are talking about it,” he said. “This is like the fifth time it’s happened.”
Gandhi said he thinks and hopes that it is someone trying to cause mischief.
“It would be nice if it stopped,” he said.
Police learned that shoes are sometimes a sign of disrespect in the Arab culture, Forte said.
An Iraqi journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, famously threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in December 2008. The incident garnered international attention.
Mongi Dhaoudi, the executive director of the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said at this point with limited information it’s hard to determine the author’s motive or message, especially because it isn’t known whether the author or authors are Arab.
“This is one of those bizarre things that just like everybody else we are scratching our heads and trying to figure out what is happening,” he said.
Generally, certain actions with shoes are meant as insults in Arabic culture.
“In Arabic culture, yes, it’s a form of disrespect when you wave your shoes at somebody or throw your shoes at somebody,” he said.
The intersection where the footwear is being left is one street away from the Bikur Cholim Sheveth Achim synagogue, but there have been no messages directed at Jews.
Forte has sent out an email to block watch members in the area where the footwear was found.
“We are hoping with the help of the community that someone will see the person responsible placing the packages so we can identify him or her,” Forte wrote in the email.
Call Rich Scinto at 203-789-5748. Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with New Haven Register editors at AskTheRegister.com
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Отредактировано PAULIUS (2014-01-01 01:17:55)
