EDMONTON—The tenants of a north-side strip mall in Edmonton say they’ve been subjected to growing harassment, both online and through phone calls, after news surfaced of Omar Khadr’s recent purchase of the property. The commercial strip is home to a variety of businesses, including an auto shop, a daycare, and a travel agency — all of which have been serving the community for several years. Most of the Google reviews on those businesses have been positive, until reports emerged on Monday of Khadr’s ownership. “Don’t support this terrorist,” a Google review on Skyview International Travel and Tourism Inc.’s page reads. Bluesky Daycare, another long-standing business in the strip, has received several one-star reviews in the last two days. Yasmin Jamil, a manager at the daycare, said they received an angry phone call on Tuesday as well.But longtime business owners in the commercial space said they have no connection to Khadr and pleaded for the harassment to stop. Alaeddin Alhussainy, who has owned and managed the Skyview travel agency for almost 10 years, said he only found out about the recent change of ownership from the media. “We don’t know him,” Alhussainy said of Khadr, and added he has not met him. Alhussainy has rented the space since May 2010, and is currently under a lease agreement, he said.The owner of Bluesky Daycare, who did not want to be named for fear of threats to them, said they knew of a change of ownership, but were not aware of the new owner and have not met Khadr either. They’ve owned the daycare for five years, and it has been operational out of the strip mall for almost 30 years in total. Read more:Utah plaintiffs seek to force Omar Khadr to answer their questionsFormer Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr wants court to rule sentence expiredJudge reserves decision in Omar Khadr’s bid to have his bail conditions relaxed“I’m receiving these review ...
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