Remember the dead from Holocaust
In reference to Damian Pulliam's Monday letter titled, "Holocaust memorials just a hollow shell," I was wondering what the 12 million dead Holocaust victims did to him so that he thinks they do not warrant remembering. Asserting that the Jewish people absurdly hold vigils and ceremonies to honor these people makes me wonder if he knows that the Holocaust is not an event isolated to the Jewish people. The Holocaust is a symbol of ignorance and fear of anything that veers from the norm. To identify Israeli resistance as a form of Jewish supremacy parallels that same fear that stems from ignorance and mocks the event to use it to promote personal political goals. That is what is truly disgusting.
Mr. Pulliam, recognize how you perpetuate a cycle of hatred. Pity those who were castrated because they were gay, experimented on because they were gypsies, and cremated because they were Jews.
Hadar Avrahami
Judaic studies and journalism senior
Students should vote on flag issue
A number of people have expressed strong opinions on whether the American flag should be displayed in every classroom on campus. In my opinion, we should resolve the issue democratically. The students of the UA should have the right to vote on whether they want this.
Sky Bauman
physics graduate student
Left-wingers guilty of intolerance on flag issue
There is a word often used by the left. In fact, it's used with relish but, for some reason, they have a hard time when it is used against them. The word is "tolerance."
If you don't like gay marriage, you're intolerant. If you believe our borders should be secured, you're intolerant. If you believe no ethnic group should be given preference in hiring and admissions practices, well, it sounds like you're against affirmative action, and yes, you too are labeled intolerant.
But when well-meaning patriots try to exercise their First Amendment rights by suggesting American flags be put into classrooms, they are branded as jingoistic radicals.
For those of us who love our country, in spite of its problems, the flag is an important symbol that we will continue to respect. Many of us patriotic Americans would like to see it in our classrooms. For those of you don't agree, let's see your tolerance for a change.
Michael Badowski
microbiology and immunology graduate student
Onus is on Arafat in Israeli-Palestinian feud
In his letter to the Wildcat yesterday, Armand Navabi claims Yasser Arafat was not even offered the path of negotiations. With all due respect to Mr. Navabi, the United States and Israel have been holding out the olive branch for so long, their arms are going numb!
So maybe Israelis have a hard time responding to the constant bombing of busses, restaurants, nightclubs, etc., with gentle grace and good humor. But let's take a quick look back, since so many of us seem to have a long-term memory of about a week. It was the year 2000, and under the auspices of Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat met with then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a place called Camp David. In the course of their negotiations, Israel offered the Palestinian Authority some 97 percent of the West Bank and all of Gaza, as well as a capital in East Jerusalem. Arafat rejected the offer, and without so much as a counter-proposal, walked away from the table, ushering in the wave of terrorism that besieges Israelis and Palestinians alike to this very day.
In the final week of Clinton's term as president, Arafat said to him in a phone conversation, "You are a great man," to which Clinton replied, "The hell I am. I am a colossal failure, and you made me one."
Israel is not blameless, to be sure, but when it comes to the Roadmap to Peace, it's obvious where the roadblock is.
Daniel Perezselsky
Near Eastern studies and political science junior
Sharon not expected to negotiate with 'terrorist'
Armand Navabi's letter to the Wildcat yesterday made several false statements regarding Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat. He claimed that Sharon was a "murderer and a racist." This is patently untrue. Sharon has never murdered anyone and he can't be racist against Arabs since he himself was born in the Middle East and is as Palestinian as Arafat.
Sharon has not decided that the Palestinians are "unworthy of negotiations"; rather, he has decided that Arafat and his goons are unacceptable partners for peace. This is why Bush has also refused to meet with Arafat, instead requesting that the Palestinian Authority elect a prime minister to negotiate for peace.
Sharon and Bush have simply watched as Arafat personally ordered the bombing of dozens of Israeli buses and the killing of more then 300 Israelis. Why should anyone negotiate with such terrorists? If America isn't going to negotiate with Osama bin Laden, then why should we expect Israel to speak with its own bin Laden?
Sam Franklin
history freshman
Palestinians more corrupt than Israelis
Anyone who has ever said Arabs and democracy are like oil and water never met an Israeli Arab such as myself. I may not be a Zionist, but I do support democracy. Israel is not a perfect democracy - there are problems, there are instances of unfair discrimination - but the United States has had its share of discrimination, too.
No, Israel is not a perfect country, but most Israeli Arabs, Muslims and Christians would much rather live under Zionist rule in what is "internationally-recognized" Israel as opposed to a despotic Arab regime such as the Palestinian Authority that steals funds from Arab governments to pad the personal accounts of men and women who only claim they care about the Palestinian cause when their actions say something quite different.
While Israeli Arabs are amongst the poorest of Israeli society, they live in a democracy. As sympathetic as we are to the plight of our Arab brethren, we prefer the right to speak our minds to killing innocent people. We will look with great favor and celebrate with our Palestinian cousins when they eventually achieve independence, but we do not want their independence gained through the deaths of innocent Israelis - and not just Israeli Jews, but Israeli Arabs.
Terrorism doesn't discriminate between Jews and Arabs. When a suicide bomber blows himself up on an Israeli bus, he kills both Jews and Arabs. This is no way to achieve freedom for the Palestinian people. We all should hope that one day, the Palestinians have a leadership that doesn't pass up negotiations as Arafat did in the summer and winter of 2000, and that one day, they live in a democracy - as I did in Israel, and as I do now in America.
Muhammad al-Wadi
Tucsonan