Readers' corner
Apples and oranges
Sir-- In 'Muslims and Jews' (9-15 August), Eric Walberg asks: Is Judaism why Palestinians are oppressed and the West so insensitive to Muslims? Is it a world or a European problem? When answering, he refers to Shahak and Marx. His analysis is flawed, however, because he accepts the Jewish concept of three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Whoever swallows this bait will come to trouble. This is an impossible comparison, like comparing mammals, birds and frogs. Frogs are not mammals nor birds; they are not in the same league. Jews are one of small creeds, like Yezidis and Parsees, while Islam and Christianity contain dozens of creeds of bigger magnitude. There are billions of Muslims and Christians. Never, never agree to this "three creeds" paradigm! But sweeping that aside, I found this article very interesting and deep.
Israel Shamir
Stockholm
Sweden
As one
Sir-- The fallacy is that while modern Jewry pays lip service to the Torah -- and that is with their peculiar interpretation of it, eg stealing from a goy (animal) is OK but not a man (Jew) -- the religion is really based on the Talmud. Since neither Christianity nor Islam subscribe to the Talmud, lumping the religions together is specious.
John Churchilly
New York
USA
Religious dress
Sir-- Once traditional Muslim women are forced to visibly assimilate, who will we turn to next? Amish and Mennonites in the US who hold to traditional dress and behaviour? As a modern, Orthodox, married, Jewish woman, I worry that my own hair covering could be next. A full face veil, a hijab, or a head scarf -- none of these harm anybody in any way. They are ways of life for many women -- ways of expressing modesty, piety, and, in the case of Jewish women who cover their hair, announcing their married status to the community. I am offended that anybody would dare tell me how to dress when I go out into the community at large. The dress of a religious woman -- be she Muslim, Jew, or Christian -- is neither harmful nor offensive and should not be treated as such.
Miriam Gray
Wisconsin
USA
Clearly right
Sir-- Why is it that here in the West most academics, scholars, news pundits, political heads and even religious leaders of every type, all as one blithely speak about the Palestinian refugees as if human beings should be categorised by religion, and based on that, be individually and collectively oppressed, harassed, expelled from their homes and denied basic human rights, privileges and freedoms? We have Holocaust museums -- we should know better! It simply is not reasonable to speak about "Israeli fears" as if the blatant institutionalised bigotry and injustice of political Zionism should be rewarded. The Palestinian refugees' right of return simply is and always will be. It has clearly been spelled out by international law for Israel's entire existence. And every day that goes by merely means damage done and the reparations due to the Palestinian refugees all add up exponentially. That's the real problem that racist Israel simply does not want to face.
Anne Selden Annab
Pittsburgh
USA
Home of terror
Sir-- As James Carville of the DSCC enquires: "How much longer are we going to fall for the lies and hypocrisy" of the Republican Party. As an independent, I think that there is sufficient lies an hypocrisies in both parties, and I may not bother to vote in the forthcoming elections. Both parties and the US media sold out to Israel's extremism. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should read the history of the state of Israel and how it was built on extremism and terrorism. Some Arabs became extremists by imitating the techniques of assassination adopted by Irgun in killing the first United Nations mediator who had a peaceful plan to partition Palestine into two states. The Bush roadmap is a poor imitation of the original plan. Israel must recognise that it is not a superpower and cannot control US foreign policy for long. It has to learn to live with its neighbours on an equal status, with respect for Palestinians. The forces of extremism did not originate with 9/11. It originated with Israel's Zionist extremism in 1948. Arab extremism is a poor imitation.
Christoper Hill
Washington, DC
USA
Silence a crime
Sir-- The carnage in Iraq shows the depth of the failure of the Muslim world. The leadership of the masses is in the hands of our mullahs; they have the power of fatwa. Yet their earthly politics prevents them from stopping this shameful page in Muslim history. If their heart was fully submitted to Allah, they would collectively, in Iraq and every country, from the top of their lungs, shout to condemn the criminals who call themselves Muslims yet torture and kill other Muslims. If our mullahs, Sunnis and Shia, collectively conduct special prayers, at every scene of carnage, if they collectively march, if they repeatedly and passionately tell all people that these criminals, and whoever is aiding them, is condemned to death, these collective crimes, aided by our collective crime of silence, will stop.
Ibrahim Al-Bakri
California
USA
Before modernity
Sir-- Democracy is a Western ideal, foreign to the Arab culture and probably unattainable. As an American, I think it is a waste of resources to try to plant democracy in the Middle East, which has more in common with the Middle Ages of Western civilisation than anything modern. Perhaps the Middle East needs a reformation and enlightenment before it can be modern.
William Stoll
Illinois
USA
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