Readers' corner
Two are one
Sir-- As an insider of Nagaa Hammadi, I say to you that we all, Muslims and Christians, live in peace and harmony in this tranquil city. Nothing has disturbed such cosy long-standing relations save for individual and irresponsible incidents, by both Muslims and Christians, which do not reflect the real daily intercourse and communication we live by. Vendetta killings are highly charged crimes even among Muslims themselves in conservative Upper Egypt.
All Muslims of Nagaa Hammadi and of Egypt vehemently denounce, before Christians, such violent acts and bloody crimes against innocent Egyptians that serve only to stir bad sentiments, jeopardise the national fabric, and disintegrate the segmental consistency of the Egyptian society at large. As we did not see any such acts elsewhere in Egypt during Christmas festivities, I find it absurd and nonsensical to rush and categorise such individual and personally motivated acts as an escalation of sectarian violence or discrimination against Christian brothers. We are all equal citizens of one Egypt.
Usamah Gadel-kareem
Qena
Egypt
You know the difference
Sir-- Thank you for 'How to protest' (7-13 January, Al-Ahram Weekly ). A US citizen, I was honoured to be in your country, where people on the streets, restaurants and stores I visited were without exception polite, hospitable and wise enough to distinguish me from my government.
I told them Obama seems an improvement over Bush, but has failed to put into action the words he spoke in Cairo regarding the dignity and rights of Palestinians.
A major failing of Obama is that he chose as his chief of staff a rabid Zionist, Rahm Emmanuel, who proved his usefulness to Israel in previous years by making sure critics of Israel in his own Democratic Party lost their elections.
The courage of those Egyptians gathered at the Press Syndicate building encouraged me to fight harder than ever in my own country for the freedom of Palestinians, Egyptians and others my nation threatens.
Steve Greaves
New York
USA
Back to the way it was
Sir-- 'US befuddled and bewildered' (24-30 December, Al-Ahram Weekly ) was very interesting, however, I don't think US policy is as befuddled as the writer thinks. The US swings between two poles, the neo-conservative (Republican) "kill our enemies" pole and the socialist (Democrat Party) "we just want to be loved" pole. Republicans want to be the world's policemen. Democrats want to please everyone, whether terrorist, monarch, brutal dictator or democracy.
What the rest of the world, especially Europe, wants is for the US to be their bulldog, healing when they command heal and attacking on their command. That the US refuses irritates them.
A third pole, libertarian isolationism, similar to that which existed before WWII, is gaining ground and hopefully will win the support of the majority. We libertarians want the US to withdraw again to the blessed isolation provided by geography and let the rest of the world cook and eat each other if they want. We are gaining ground, but slowly.
Roger Mckinney
Oklahoma
USA
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