More Letters to the Editor

Uncle Sam (Castic) wants you!

This is in response to Sam Castic's letter in the Oct. 25 Daily. Castic asks for students in accord with the Senate Resolution of Support for the War Effort to attend the next Senate meeting. Sam wrote, "If the resolution passes, events like the Day of Reflection and the Thursday night lecture series will continue to happen because all of us need to educate ourselves on the conditions around the war. Passing a resolution of support of our government will not inhibit this." Sam, permit me to "educate" you! Events like the Thursday night lecture series have been going on for the past three weeks without any resolution whatsoever. A Resolution of Support passed by the UW Senate would have absolutely no effect and would catalyze absolutely no action on the part of the UW community. Don't lie to us, Sam, and don't mince your words. You make it sound like this resolution will help "educate" the student body or somehow catalyze a new lecture series, and this is simply not true. Castic's words are nothing more than empty rhetoric -- fitting, considering that the proposal he co-sponsors is nothing more than an empty resolution.

Castic asks students to attend the Tuesday senate meeting in HUB 310 at 5 p.m. Maybe Tuesday Castic and Kemmling will get a little "educating" of their own. I urge all students who disagree with the Senate resolution to attend the Oct. 30 senate meeting to express our displeasure with Kemmling and Castic's proposal. See you there.

Dan Riley

junior, French and English

Said distorts reality

In Hashem Said's op-ed of Oct. 22, several inaccurate and wholly false claims are made regarding the U.S. relationship with Israel that must be addressed.

First, he asserts that Israel's perspective is best represented online by an obscure Web site with no connection to the Israeli government or any recognized Jewish group in America. Rather, the Israeli government's official Web site is www.mfa.gov.il. The Web site Said referred to is, as he put it, full of propaganda and misinformation.

Second, Israel receives $2.76 billion in foreign aid every year, not $5.5 billion as Said claims. Most of this is "foreign military financing" and 75 percent of this funding must be, as required by law, spent in the United States (www.state.gov). Furthermore, Said ignores that Egypt receives the second largest amount of U.S. aid. By relying on another obscure Web site, Said again confuses fact with propaganda. While benefiting our own economy, our aid to Israel is an investment in the only real democracy in the Middle East.

On this point, Said thoroughly distorts reality. More than 10 percent of Israel's elected parliamentarians are Arabs, and Prime Minister Sharon's cabinet includes Salah Tarif, an Arab Druze minister (www.knesset.gov.il). Obviously, Said's assertion that "only Jews can be voted into office" is completely baseless. In fact, Arab citizens of Israel are the only Arabs in the Middle East with such rights as the right to vote in a true and participatory democracy.

Further, I find highly suspect his claim that American abandonment of Israel would immediately win 56 allies for the U.S. This number includes nations such as Iran, Libya, Syria, and Iraq -- nations with whom we disagree over much more than our relationship with Israel. Those four are only the beginning in this list of rogues.

Finally, Said puts the icing on the cake when he claims that the root of terrorism against America is our support for Israel. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refuted such claims, saying that prior to the latest attacks, bin Laden never mentioned the Palestinians or Israel as part of his cause. Again, Said demonstrates his need to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Ron Kamara

sophomore, pre-major

Israeli Arabs can get elected

In Oct. 22's "America's Paradigm," Hashem Said wrote that, in Israel, "only Jews can be voted into office." Said needs to check his facts. Below is a partial list of Arab Members of the Knesset, the governing body of Israel, listed by party:

UNITED ARAB LIST

Abd el-Malek Dahamsha

Taleb a-Sana'a

Hashem Mahmeed

Tewfik Khatib

Muhammad Kena'an

DEMOCRATIC FRONT FOR PEACE AND EQUALITY -- HADASH

Mohammed Baraka

Issam Mahoul

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

Azmi Bishara

ARAB MOVEMENT FOR RENEWAL

Ahmed Tibi

If Said were to contact some of the Arab parliamentarians (as can be done at the Knesset Web site, www.knesset.gov.il), they would assure him that they do indeed serve in the Knesset and that Arabs are represented in the Israeli government by way of Arab citizens of Israel exercising their right to vote. Like it or not, Israel is indeed a democracy. Is this democracy perfectly equal and fair? No. Israel's government is not perfect, but it provides the means for Israeli citizens to effect change. This is a fundamental difference between Israel and virtually all of the Arab countries in the Middle East, whom Said claims would ally with the United States "instantly" if relations with Israel should be terminated. Nearly all of these countries are totalitarian dictatorships that rule through oppression and intimidation, never governing in accordance with the will of the people and rarely upholding the right to vote in fair elections. Democracy is the biggest threat to oppressive forms of government, and therefore many Arab countries would never align themselves with the United States, regardless of our relations with Israel. Because of the perceived threat that democracies pose to totalitarian regimes, democratic countries such as the United States and Israel are hated throughout the Arab world. The democratic ideals that our country is based on -- and the fact that these ideals fundamentally clash with the goals of fundamentalist regimes -- are the ultimate reasons for the horrible attacks on Sept. 11.

Meghan Pinch

senior, international studies

Israel's friends are not extremist

In his article "America's Paradigm," published on Oct. 22, Said describes the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as "pro-Israeli extremist organizations." Could Said please tell me what exactly qualifies these groups as extremist? AIPAC main goals, according to its Web site (www.aipac.org/documents/whoweare.html) are "stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, fighting terrorism, achieving peace, and above all, ensuring that Israel is strong enough to meet these challenges." AIPAC does this by lobbying for foreign aid for Israel and for funding of joint U.S.-Israeli efforts to build a defense against unconventional weapons. Are these goals pro-Israel? Definitely. Extremist? Hardly. They represent the sentiments of mainstream Jewish America, as well as sentiments of many non-Jewish supporters of Israel.

What about the ADL? According to the Web site (www.adl.org), the ADL's goals are to "fight Anti-Semitism and bigotry and promote respect among diverse groups in America and the world." This group, being a Jewish organization, also supports Israel, but its main objective is to end prejudice. Indeed, this group has been at the center of opposing not only anti-Jewish sentiment since the bombings, but also anti-Arab sentiment. A few examples -- in Seattle, ADL regional director Brian Goldberg spoke out against racial profiling of Arab Americans, saying "It's important we send the message out not to racially profile anyone based on their national origin or religion." In Washington, D.C., at the request of the ADL, Roscoe C. Howard Jr., U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, convened a special meeting of the D.C. Bias Crimes Task Force to respond to reports of hate crimes committed against Arab-Americans and Muslims. Said, how could you possibly categorize this group as extremist, especially considering its efforts to ensure that Arab-American rights are not violated? The message I am hearing from you is that any organization, and therefore any person, that publicly supports Israel is an extremist. This sounds hauntingly familiar to claims made by the ignorant that anyone who is Arab or Muslim is an Islamic extremist. Both comments are harmful, misleading, and potentially dangerous. Please be careful with your labels.

Joshua Jacobs

senior, international studies

Israel is a democracy

A rebuttal needs to be made to the piece of "propaganda and misinformation" (using the author's own words) written recently by Mr. Hashem Said (10/22). Too many Americans have by now seen films shown in Palestinian schools and summer camps, encouraging children to be martyrs, to be able to read the sad statistics of Palestine casualties cited by Mr. Said, without thinking of why these children are being put in these dangerous conditions. Too many Americans would be unable to live within the military and traditional dictatorships of the Arab countries surrounding Israel (or under the Palestinian Authority itself), without yearning to live instead in Israel, the only Middle Eastern democracy. Yes, it is a democracy, Mr. Said, one in which elected Arab legislators express their views from the seats in the Knesset. And too many Americans have now seen urban terrorism in action on their own soil, brought to them by the same groups bringing Israel the Intifada, and for whom Mr. Said is attempting to get better press. Too bad that press has to be The Daily.

Chaya Siegelbaum and Muriel Dance

professional staff

Israel is tiny

Regarding David Boelke's letter (Oct. 23), Israel has one of the largest militaries in the world? The country is only 6 million people large. One million of them are Israeli Arabs that can opt out of the required service that all other Israelis must serve. In comparison, the U.S. military is about 1.5 million personnel. Subtracting the elderly, disabled, and children (women serve along side men in Israel) how much larger can the Israeli army be?

And if David would like to allow the U.S. military to be drawn into the conflict, we should stop giving Israel military aid. But if not, that aid is an excellent deterrent for Iraq and Syria not to invade, which they have done in the past.

Joshua Newman

junior, industrial engineering

Stop printing so many Daily's!

We must keep on striving to protect our national forests. These forests are home for the biological diversity of Mother Nature's plants and species. They are so important, not only for the wildlife but for our well being also.

An astounding statistic is that only four percent of America's forests are still standing. These last-standing forests are out hope for the future. By protecting them, we will help save more than 3,000 species and 10,000 plants. The rich wildlife will help give up answers and medicinal remedies for unknown cures.

As forests are being destroyed by logging, mining and other practices, harmful climate changes are accelerating because of the high amounts of carbon that is released into the earth. Pollution levels will continue to rise as more and more trees are being cut down. These trees are our source for cleaner air.

There is still hope for our wild areas! But we must make a difference before it is too late. Surveys have shown that 80 percent of Americans agree on protecting the wilderness. We all need to come together and defend this cause. Because once the forests are destroyed, they are gone forever!

Tara Kligman

freshman, pre-sciences

Open letter to student drinkers

Every autumn, our neighborhood on the Roosevelt side of the U-district is forced to endure a fresh class of drunks who are becoming progressively (or regressively) inconsiderate.

Here are a few tips:

1. If you think you're smart by bypassing University Way, the bars on Roosevelt attract the worst of the frat brats and sorority sluts, so you're not going to find any quality companionship here.

2. Find garbage cans for your containers rather than trashing our yards.

3. Private property, red zones, median strips and sidewalks are not appropriate places to park.

4. Your fake I.D. might get you into bars, but when you are arrested for public drunkenness, underage drinking, DWI or similar conduct, it's just going to add to your charges (and the expense).

5. It would be nice if you used the toilets before leaving the bars rather than going behind our bushes or on the open street. The sight of a woman hiking up her skirt to relieve herself is particularly disgusting.

6. Whooping, hollering and other childish behavior should be saved for your dorm. To those women assaulted by drunken dates, we've become so conditioned to female screaming that we don't respond.

7. Although it seems irresistible to not take beer bottles with you, try to remember that some of the resultant punctured tires and cut feet will be those of your fellow students.

8. Breaking signposts will not get you laid. The co-ed you picked up is going to think you're a jerk.

9. Stop signs, crosswalk signs and the like may seem like novel things to decorate your room, but they're passe and the life that you endanger may end up being your own.

10. Hangovers suck!

P.S. To the [women] in the blue Mustang who've violated almost every public nuisance law, we have your license number and will gladly turn over our video security tapes to the police the next time you come around here.

Gary Friedman, your neighbor