Readers' corner
Not the cause
Sir-- 'Piecing the jigsaw' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 26 February-4 March) was a revealing and disturbing piece of analysis. Not because the article was in any way incorrect but rather because it was so very correct. The bombing at the Al-Hussein Mosque was an atrocious act of terrorism. That anyone could link the killing of French tourists and maiming dozens of other civilians to events in the Gaza Strip is ludicrous. Exactly 2,920 days of Gaza rockets fired at civilians in Israel, followed by 21 days of Israeli retaliation to put a stop to the terror emanating from Gaza, has no bearing whatsoever on events in Egypt. This was terror on Egyptian soil with a very specific domestic agenda of political subversion in Egypt. Tenuous links to events abroad are nonsensical, a convenient way of deflecting attention away from the real aim.
What isn't nonsensical, however, is the way such acts and such thought processes are finding their way far beyond the borders of Gaza, Egypt and the Middle East.
The Swedish cities of Malmö and Södertölje were recently rocked by Islamist/left-wing violence claiming inspiration from the Hamas war against Israel and Israel's response. Battles with the police, massive demonstrations against the presence of Jews guilty of the crime of playing tennis, shops being blown up and torched and schools being shut by the police to protect the children. All in the name of Islamist and left-wing "dissatisfaction" with events in Gaza.
When enough is enough, you have to say so. Hopefully Egypt will be firm in saying "enough" and will deal with its problem, and that Sweden will do exactly the same. Firmly.
Ilya Meyer
Stockholm
Sweden
Two-way street
Sir-- The irony of 'Free speech and fatwas' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 26 February-4 March) can be summed up in the statement that "understanding and tolerance between the West and Islam can hardly be achieved when one side continues abusing the other." I strongly believe Islam abuses the West, not the other way around. There is a long list of things I see in the Islamic media which I consider to be abusive towards women, Jews and Westerners. When the Islamic media is willing to censor all these things I consider to be abusive then, and only then, will I be willing to listen to the cries of people like that of this writer. What is it about Islamic culture that makes you feel you can tell non-Muslims what we can and cannot say, but not the other way around, too?
Jane Likwich
California
USA
Give and take
Sir-- In 'Free speech and fatwas' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 26 February-4 March), perhaps the West has not granted Islam the respect it deserves. However, it is erroneous to imply that the other side has been entirely innocent in the matter. It is painful for Muslims to be conflated with terrorism due to the actions of a radical minority, but it is equally painful for non-Muslims to be told that their faith is inferior or, at best, a distortion or falsification of "the original message." Rushdie's book was undoubtedly offensive, but so is the Holocaust denial and anti- Semitic outbursts one frequently sees in the Arab press. To receive respect, one must first grant it; only then can balanced and fruitful dialogue commence. The peaceful coexistence in Egypt of several religions over centuries proves that such a dialogue, while difficult, remains a possibility.
Vladimir Skaletsky Jr
Cairo
Egypt
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