POCATELLO — As dozens of Muslims shed their shoes and entered the Islamic Society of Southeast Idaho’s mosque on South Fifth Avenue, its secretary and president were anxious to talk about some problems Muslims are facing as they attend school and make a life here.
President Ahmed Abuaghith and secretary Nezar Alnejidi both said Muslims are having some issues with a small group of people in Pocatello.
“We’re trying very hard to resolve issues,” Alnejidi said.
One of the largest issues is finding housing for all the Idaho State University students from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Alnejidi said some landlords of rental properties in the Gate City want triple the amount of normal security deposits from Muslim students, and two months of rent paid in advance.
“That is not fair,” he said.
Alnejidi said because all the students from Saudi Arabia are being sponsored by their government to attend ISU, there are systems in place to secure reimbursements if a tenant does damage to a rental property.
“We (Muslims) as a community here will do what we can to help,” Alnejidi said.
Other issues Alnejidi said Muslim students grapple with include local residents staring at them and at least one incident where a pair of Muslim women were verbally assaulted at a local grocery store.
“Someone called them terrorists and it frightened them,” Alnejidi said.
Alnejidi, who is in Pocatello with his family, said he has noticed the stares that come from some local residents. He said people in Saudi Arabia do not stare at people who are Westerners.
“I don’t feel comfortable if I feel I’m being watched,” he said.
In another incident, a Saudi student had a message stuck under his windshield wiper that said, “Go back to your camel country,” according to Alnejidi.
Alnejidi said the isolated incidents are unfortunate because most of the community has been supportive and kind to foreign students from the Middle East.
“The number of students from the Middle East is a testament to the kindness of Pocatello,” Alnejidi said. “And it will pay future dividends.”
Alnejidi said the experiences that students from Kuwait or Saudi Arabia have at ISU and in Pocatello are things they will remember for the rest of their lives, and positive experiences will prompt these graduates to send their own children to the university here.
“I came here to learn, which shows you how much I respect you,” Alnejidi said about coming to the U.S.
He said if people have questions or issues with Islam, they should contact the Islamic Society of Southeast Idaho.
“My message is love and peace,” Alnejidi said.
(22) comments
I encourage the mosque to hold a Town Hall kind of meeting. The concerns of both parties must be expressed and listened to.
This problem must not be allowed to fester.
Respect, Trust and Safety are foundational to a healthy relationship and community building.
When only 13% of the world Muslim population is Arab, it is always sad to see all Muslims put into on pot...
America has the most diverse Muslim population.
I reach out to all the residents of Pocatello who have encountered great challenge and disappointment. I say to the Muslims in Pocatello, escalate your community partnerships, be engaged with your neighbors.
Let us all speak our mind, without blame and shame..Let us all commit to making things better...
Soraya
I beg to differ philli. My experience has been that discrimination is supported and condone by way too many of the righteous, many of which are in positions of authority. It isn't written, published or advertised, but practiced to the degree that good people lose their reputation, employment, home and livelyhood. All because they dare to think independently. How did religion get tossed in, you ask? Did you read the article or the comments or just jump to the defense of my mention of the Mormon faith?
What do you like ? if its so bad here why stay? I don't think I am better than everyone but I respect people enough to know when to quit so with that said have a happy life.
ISU actively recruits these young people in order to pocket some of the all-mighty oil dollar at the expense of gaining a reputation among the young Arabs as being a place for a cheap and easy education so they can buy other things with what they save of their monthly stipend. SHAME ON ISU !!!
And shame on Pocatello and ISU for assuming that these young Arab's will assimulate to and adopt our norms, standards, morals and tenets. How naive can a podunk town be?
I can't help but think the LDS church had a little something to do with the big influx, as well, whether it be an active roll or through acquiescence, with holier-than-thou hopes of turning a few heathens and saving some lost Arab souls. Gee....they are coming to us! What better place than grungy little blue-collar Pocatello to use as a test bed? How you liking that brand new Mosque Pocatello? (Actually, if they cared to do a little research the Mormon paradigm is more similar to the Muslim paradigm than to any Christian faith.)
Oops....did I type that out load?
WOW ! how did religion get tossed in?, and this is 2015 right! can say Mormon religion is not practiced in that manner, nor do we discriminate in such a manner. There is back ground checks and these kids!! must check out if ISU takes them in then why Judge why hate there is no room in this world for it may peace go with you all .
And one more thing I would like to say is Nezar Alnejidi you feel that the housing situation is NOT FAIR to these students, well they have done that to themselves by destroying the places they live in and showing no respect for their neighbors. I feel it is NOT FAIR to my born and raised American child to have to go to class and not have a good learning environment because the professor has to spend extra time with these disrespectful students who feel they do not and will not learn English, but that's okay because they pay a lot of money to I.S.U. It makes me sick!
I am going to comment on this because lately this issue is the biggest reason I am moving away from Pocatello!! I completely agree with you daronharrisops!!! This article really makes me mad, because it is so one sided. Why don't you speak to the people in the community that have lived here for 50 plus years and I bet more then 80% of us have had BAD experiences with these students! I treat EVERYONE with respect no matter what their religion, race, color or sex except for the ones that show me no respect! My experience with the Kuwait and Saudi students have all been NEGATIVE! They show NO respect for our laws or our town. They trash our streets and race around on our roads giving no thought or care to our little ones playing on the sidewalks! They make it hard for the mail carriers that try to deliver mail and for the garbage men and anyone else you has to deal with them! I actually had a group of three males crowd in front of me in a line at a restaurant because I was a women, When I confronted them about it they just laughed and spoke in their own language and acted like I wasn't even there. So I stepped right in front of them and took back my place in line while I told them exactly how rude and disrespectful they were and I would do it again, because I will not be disrespected in my own Country in my own town. These kids have absolutely NO RESPECT for the U.S. or Pocatello for that matter. Another reason that they can't find affordable housing is because they trash the places they live and don't care at all. One of my coworkers rented to 4 males and they destroyed the apartment and tore apart the oven because they were creating bombs and testing them in the oven. Most of them are taking NUCLEAR ENGINEERING, gee I wonder why! SO DO NOT tell me they aren't a threat, THEY ARE!!! And if the law makers and Idaho State can not see that they are the fools, because they see nothing but $$$. Wake up
Whew! The level of hostility of some of these comments are amazing. It reminds me of when I was teaching employees of Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) in the 1980s, how one of the young men in the class stared at me all class long. At break time I approached him and asked why was he staring at me. He said he was from Nebraska and had never saw a black man in person before! Recently a nephew of mine was at his college in Iowa and went to the store to by a soda. He said that a white women stepped away from him as he approached the line and when he went to the soda fountain she again stepped away as he approached! Once my wife told me that she was on a public bus in Chicago and a little girl asked her mother what kid of women was she! Race and cultural relations still have a long way to go in America. I've often thought to myself, that whites would be the first to call for ALL Americans to the defend America if we had a foreign invader at our door steps BUT as soon as the crisis was over - the hateful/bigotry was would bounce right back!
I know they are Saudi/muslim because I have called the police and have had to deal with them. The point is as guests of this community they should obey our laws as I would be in they're country.
AmericanMuslim is not finding accurate facts without mentioning small details and lying. Look it up people.
The 11 saudis in the 9/11 were the ones that highjacked the plane... Right?
After reading some of these comments no wonder the city can't attract any big businesses with good paying jobs. First they want to allow discrimination against the LGBT community , now this. Turn off fox ! Just because someone isn't white and "Christian" doesn't mean they are bad people. Diversity enhances life.
Muslims are the problem. Arabs are OK, if not Muslim. Dirty, rude and unjustly accuse people of racism if you don't like them.
Zmonger said in their post: I have nothing against them...but they need to leave this country just the same, they are terrorists waiting to be called on and they feel threatened that they are exposed because people are watching their every move. There were 11 Saudis that were in 9/11 and no we will never forget that...they started this war no us.
1.Of course you have something against Muslims. but Zmonger is both a coward and a bigot..
2.I am a convert to Islam and a veteran and a former police officer. Muslims have been a part of America since its founding. Maybe Zmonger should go read a history book. America started war against Muslims by bombing countries from afar thinking that they are safe. There are consequences when you murder innocent civilians with bombs and drones like America has done in Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, and has given weapons to Israel to bomb unarmed Palestinians. There are more than 1,4 million Muslims in America. There were also 112 Muslims that died in the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.14,000 Muslims that served in Iraq.16 Muslims that are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Next time you get gas at Aramco that too is a Muslim company in America. Its formal name is Arab American Oil Company.It has offices in, Houston Texas ,but its a Saudi Company. 9/11 was a wake up call that America is not invincible and to inflict the same pain that America has inflicted on other countries and innocent people across the globe. I have no intentions of leaving America as I was born here and people like Zmonger can't make me either. Pople like Zmonger are just rude and ignorant.
Americanmoslem..what does the word "pople" mean? Check your spelling at the end of your silly comments huh. Like I said I have nothing against Moslems, they should all leave or be deported they don't belong here. They are people that look at other nonmoslems as low life's, they don't respect women, they molest young children that are forced to be "married" to men that are as much as. 35 years older than they are and a lot of cases they are much older!
They expect us in this country to adhere to their heathen ways and want sharia law instead of our own country's laws.
Look at the other comments...they speak for themselves! There is a lady that is moving away from Pocatello because of these heathens. Of course you will defe defend them because you are a moslem. I have lived back in the DC area for several years where there is a large moslem population from around the world and I saw men abuse or disrespect women all the time...the young females couldn't look at other men but the boys sure could do what they wanted to with other gals, they even did their own 2nd cousins. Don't pretend to anyone that they are pure at heart. So 112 Moslems were killed on 9/11, they have respect for lives so what does 112 people of moslem faith mean to them! Nothing at all. They are backward 7th century heathens. Don't expect to many people to embrace these individuals with open arms. Not all Moslems are terrorists but their good buddies have brought the light onto themselves since 9/11 and don't forget the 72 Olympics to refresh your narrow mind. The Moslems have been at war with someone for centuries for one reason or another, history has proven that. These people come to this country and expect us to kiss their behinds and they have certain rights to be exempt from our laws...does honor killing sound familiar to you? Sounds so american huh. Ignorant of the Moslems, I don't think so, I know more about them than you ever will. Coward, lol! I served my country. Sent a lot of these heathens to Allah by the way. I don't know if you are married or not but like most Moslems and their belief in the Koran child molestation and child rape is not acceptable in this country or any other country these individuals live in. They have made a mess in all of Europe, Australia, Russia, China, the list is endless. They even sent a couple of flunkys to try to shoot up a gathering in TX last week, they lost. I could go on and on about these individuals but I made my point. Like I said, they need to be deported or leave on their own. I think I am going to go have a ham sandwich now.
How does this person know this group racing Mustangs are from Saudi Arabia or for that matter are Muslims? Why not call the police if they are so concerned?
There is a large group of Saudi /Muslim students in my neighborhood. My experience with them has been very negative. They race there mustangs up and down the street day and night, obey no laws. They are rude pushy and have no respect for my town or country. Not to mention the fact that they think its ok to touch woman they don't know. I am certain there are good. Muslims in our area. Just not the ones we see. If you feel like your picked on perhaps you should also look inside your own community.
I doubt that the landlords are asking for extra money from Saudi or Kuwaiti students because they are bigoted. I believe it's because a significant number of these students are problematic. I know of people who live in apartments that have a significant middle eastern student population and complain of the lack of courtesy shown by the renters. Loud cars, radios, cigarette butts and trash thrown everywhere. In addition, every summer eviction notices show up on the doors of the apartments because the students have gone home for the summer and do not pay rent while they are gone (although from what I understand, most rents are brought up to date when they return). This is a hardship for the property owner. Just because the Saudi government may recompense the owner for any damage, a property owner would much rather not have damage in the first place. I suspect that rents for all students in a college town are higher regardless of their nationality because so many tend to be destructive.
The rent has been always been really high and from the way the utilities are for the city most part its do for that and some landlords just take advantage and ask way to much.When comparing to buying the payments are half maybe they should refi and pass the savings to tenants and not all renters destroy things that's what background checks are for if you know what they are going to do don't rent it to them Landlords should not assume they are destructive because of where they are from either.
Discrimination of any kind is never right! leaving notes being rude all lead to more ways that make us no better. what happened in 911 wont make today move forward by hate and pain for all from same country for those that have complied with the USA and want a better life and peace I wish you the best the scars left run deep but not all were there to start the war its up to us to change and end it and it starts with understanding and not assuming they are all alike and out to get us.Get to know them before you Judge and assume the worst.PEACE
I have nothing against them...but they need to leave this country just the same, they are terrorists waiting to be called on and they feel threatened that they are exposed because people are watching their every move. There were 11 Saudis that were in 9/11 and no we will never forget that...they started this war no us. Like I said I have nothing against them if they leave now...we all know we will be at war with them again in the end. Their beliefs don't mesh with western cultures anywhere...they need to leave now.
Your story represents one point of view. We have three separate groups of Arabic renters in our neighborhood. One group keeps their yard up, puts out the garbage with the can facing the correct direction, comes and goes quietly. Two don't take care of their yard, put out garbage can backwards with trash running over, drive way to fast for neighborhood. Essentially going out of their way to offend. Here is another prospective. You are living in our neighborhoods where your inattention to your house effect us. You will get stared at when you go out of your way to be offensive, i.e putting garbage can out backwards with trash on the ground around it every week even though all the other cans face the other direction and no one else has trash laying around the can. Try cleaning your yard, slow down, and respect your neighbors.
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