Local shop owner says she's been harassed in the wake of attacks
Iranian-born store owner mulls leaving town
Her car was vandalized
By Gloria I. Wang
A Los Gatos business owner says that although she has been the recipient of hateful words and deeds following the terrorist attacks on America, she bears no ill will toward the perpetrators.
"It's just the nature of humans. They get emotional, they react," said Jahan Dokht Hill, owner of men's clothier Jahan Dokht Inc. on W. Main Street. "I understand."
In the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Hill received several strange phone calls and hang-ups, and her car was vandalized. "I don't want to blame anyone or anything. I'm part of the community," Hill said. "They should not judge me because of what happened in the Middle East."
Hill, who is Iranian by birth, said that she closed her shop the afternoon of the attacks and went to stay with her nephew for two nights. On Sept. 12, she took two or three phone calls from people who either hung up or whispered to her to leave the country. The next time the phone rang, Hill was afraid to answer. Instead, her answering machine recorded the voice of someone saying, "Leave! Leave! Leave!"
That evening, Hill closed her store at 6 p.m. and was preparing to go home when she discovered that her Land Rover had been vandalized. The wipers for both the headlights and taillights had been broken, she said, and her car was apparently singled out--it was parked behind the business, out of sight, and was the only car that had been damaged.
The next day, Hill received several similar phone calls. She was reluctant to report the incidents to police, however, because she did not want to be the center of attention and "create problems."
"I think the police have got more important things than this," Hill said.
Though the phone calls have subsided, Hill says that she is still dealing with what she perceives as ethnic prejudice from people she has encountered in her store and in the downtown area. "They shake my hand and say, 'What made you come to this country? How do you feel?'" Hill said. "Never before did they ask me those questions. Now they ask me."
Hill says that after living around Los Gatos for 13 years, she identifies with the locals. "All of us are the same way. We're shocked," she said.
Hill's mother lives in Iran and advised her to close her store temporarily and go live with relatives or friends in Europe. "I said, 'That's not a solution,'" Hill said. She says she is confident that the tension she feels in the area will change when people calm down, but she is unsure whether or not she should stay in Los Gatos for the moment.
"I feel like I have nowhere to live, because I am not welcome in my own country," Hill said, briefly breaking into tears.
Hill declines to state which religion she practices because she does not want to be categorized by her religion. She does say, however, that one of her friends--a Muslim who wears traditional garb and has a medical practice--stayed home from work for several days in order to avoid any conflict or violence.
Despite the negativity she experienced immediately after the terrorist attacks, Hill managed to initiate the well-attended candlelight vigil that was held at the Town Plaza on Sept. 14.
Hill said she had the idea for the vigil after hearing that President Bush had declared the day as a National Prayer Day. She quickly enlisted the aid of the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and started planning at noon that day. Several downtown business owners offered to share the financial burden of the vigil with Hill.
"This is my home and my country, and I wanted to be with people," Hill said. "The enemy sees how people are united, and they get weaker."
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
