Readers' corner

---

Click to view caption

What he must say

Sir-- Because of unlimited and unrestricted American support, Israel has arrogated land, destroyed homes, bulldozed farms, and transformed population centres into open-air detention camps. And whenever the aggrieved Palestinians seek redress at the United Nations Security Council, the US continuously uses its veto power to perpetuate oppression and encourage Israel to keep up its criminal behaviour.

Despite all this, we do not ask and we do not expect the US to thoroughly reverse the course of its relationship with Israel. However, we do expect President Barack Obama to inform Israel from Cairo, in clear language, that murdering and maiming thousands of innocent civilians with white phosphorous, even under the false rubric of fighting "terror", is wrong. We do want him to tell Israel that building Jewish-only colonies on occupied land is wrong. And we do want President Obama to make sure that the state-of-the-art machines of death given to Israel by the United States are not used to murder civilians and destroy their homes. And above all, we want Obama to tell Israel that the continued military occupation of another people is unacceptable and inconsistent with American ideals and principles.

Mr President, welcome to our country. All of us are looking forward to the change you promised and which we hope comes true.

Ahmed Abdel-Tawwab
Cairo
Egypt

---

Let's listen

Sir-- We all know about Obama's oratory skills, but we hope he comes to Cairo with a message to the Muslim world that has a purpose. If it is to be a genuine address of change, Obama should say that the United States will give more financial aid to the countries of the region. The US should also try to mend fences with all the countries in the region, including Iran and Syria.

Most important, the new US should treat Hamas and Hizbullah for what they are -- freedom fighters, not terrorists. Israel indirectly helped create these groups; they were founded as the direct result of the Israeli occupation. End the occupation of Arab lands and Hzbullah and Hamas will stop their struggle. They will not disappear for they have become intrinsically woven into the fabric of their respective societies. But once Israeli forces have withdrawn from all Arab lands, they will cease the fire which, in turn, will take away from the United States and the West in general the pretext to label them as pariah organisations.

Ismail Moataz
Alexandria
Egypt

---

Nuweiba threatened

Sir-- Europe wants to finance a gas power plant in Nuweiba, one of the last undisturbed places that is home to two Bedouin tribes.

These plans are irresponsible and will destroy the area. They will cause serious damage to the marine environment and the natural landscape that make Nuweiba a popular tourist destination. Nuweiba will change from an undisturbed paradise to a stink that nobody will want to visit. Tourism will survive only in the big hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba, the eco-friendly beach lodges will disappear and the corals will die and never grow again. It's not enough that the Egyptian government just acts for profit interests; that Europe supports ruining this last beautiful natural site is unbearable. There are many people across the world against the plan.

After the destruction reaches the waterworld of Sharm and Taba, tourists will simply leave these places and move to another beach.

Dunja Bals
Munich
Germany