|
The Afghan Kebab House II
Afghan Kebab House II is located on the bustling corner of Second Avenue and 71st street in Yorkville, where Italian, Chinese and Japanese restaurants have filled back up as New York City gradually wakes from the shock of the September 11th attacks. But the Kebab House is not filling back up like its neighbors, and not for an absence of charm. Stepping inside the restaurant is like stepping into an inviting basement room. The air has a musty yet spicy quality to it, to match the dimly lit, exotic interior. Each table is draped in a red tablecloth and decorated with glasses that hold folded white napkins, and vases filled with red and pink carnations. Tan burlap covers the walls from floor to ceiling. A colorful, poster-size cloth map of Afghanistan hangs on a corner wall. Across the room hangs another map, this one a wooden relief of Afghanistan. On the wall of windows between the two maps is an American flag. At 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night, there was only one patron at the restaurant. Manager Izmar Yalai says he is afraid for the future of the business. "I have seen a 60%-70% drop in business since two weeks ago," Yalai said. "Tonight, I will be lucky if I have six, seven, or eight people for dinner." If business continues as it has been since September 11th, Yalai is afraid that he won’t be able to pay his bills, and will have to close down. "I had a good business and good clientele," Yalai said. "Now, people are trying to avoid us because of the name Afghan." Compounding his fear of lost business is the fact that people have been calling Yalai and threatening him and the restaurant. One such caller rang to ask if the restaurant was part of the Taliban. Other calls are more disturbing. "Get out, or we’re going to burn the restaurant and kill you and your family," threatened one caller. While Yalai does not think anyone will harm him personally, he acknowledged that there "are crazies out there," and says he is afraid for his Texas-born wife and their eight-year-old son. A life of fear is nothing new to Yalai. He fled Afghanistan 20 years ago after his entire family was murdered during the country’s war with Russia. Yalai was held in prison in Afghanistan and forced to flight, but was eventually able to flee to America. He has never looked back. "I have blocked that time from my memory," Yalai said. "I am not in touch with anyone from Afghanistan. I am here now, this is my country." In a war between the United States and Afghanistan, Yalai says he will fight against his former home, even though he remembers his country and its people fondly. "People of Afghanistan are very nice," he said. "We have always been a free people. When the Freedom Fighters won against Russia, they began fighting amongst themselves for power. The Taliban just stepped in." The Afghanistan of Yalai’s youth no longer exists. "The Taliban are religious fanatics," he said. "It is like it was 1,000 years ago. No one has rights. Women cannot work, cannot walk in the streets. People are dying everyday from hunger and from being bombed." Yalai is a Muslim, and is strongly against the idea of Jihad. Islam does not preach war on innocent people, he said, calling Osama bin Laden "insane." "People like bin Laden should have been taken care of years ago," said Yalai. "If you have a basket full of apples, and one apple is rotten, that does not make the entire basket bad. People should unite at a time like this, not divide and hate." Yalai feels strongly that the United States government needs to do something in order to make everyone feel secure because, as he says, "If people live in fear, afraid to fly, afraid to go out, the economy will fall." And yet, even when New York does recover, will it count the Afghan Kebab House II among its survivors?
Rebecca Skaroff is an undergraduate journalism major at NYU.
|
|