Palestinian state

This refers to your editorial “Lack of unity hurts Palestine: Fatah and Hamas play into the hands of common enemy” (Sept. 22). What Israel is most afraid of is that Israel would then face military assault from the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere.

If Israel could find peace in being at peace with the Palestinians, the Palestinians would have their own state and achieve real independence. It is a lack of trust that keeps Israel from making real peace with Palestinians and the daily rhetoric of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran is feeding that mistrust.

David Marx, Canada published 1 October 2008

Palestinian state 2

The one-state solution for Palestinian Arabs and the Jews in Palestine shouldn’t be just a tactical step to temporarily manage a difficult situation. It should be the final goal, the end game, if peace is to come to the region. Even if a Palestinian state is created in the West Bank and Gaza, it will be only a temporary solution. Palestinians who were evicted from their homes and lands in 1948 will never give up their right of return. So, if the purpose of the exercise is to solve the problem permanently, the aim should be to form one state where Palestinian Arabs and the Jews in Palestine live side by side with equal rights in the whole of Palestine with the rights of the Palestinians evicted in 1948 to return to their land guaranteed.

Khader Abu-Hayyeh, Kent, UK published 1 October 2008

Akbar’s gripe

I cannot understand why M.J. Akbar is always criticizing India. His “India: Plants and Implants” (Sept. 21) was just more of the same. If he had something specific and informative to say about the Indo-US nuclear deal, why didn’t he come forward and say it before the deal was signed, instead of talking nonsense after the event? What is his gripe? Why can’t he see anything positive in India?

Noel Frank, Riyadh published 1 October 2008

Militancy in Pakistan

The report “50 killed in suicide attack in Pakistan’s Marriott Hotel” made sad reading. No words can describe the magnitude of the impact; unless one has seen the place with his own eyes. Only the crater tells the whole story.

The sadder part is that even though the government may claim success in catching some of them, it will not mean anything. As soon as the government forces pull back, the extremists will regroup and carry on their activities as usual. This is the tradition of the region. It is very hard to “cap” them. No military power and no empire has so far been successful in eliminating them. Their martial culture and the nature of the terrain make it an ideal place for extremists and terrorists to survive.

Nadeem Shah, Doha published 1 October 2008

Pioneering princesses

Thank you for the report “New in Gulf: Bigger role for some first ladies” (Sept. 23) featuring Princess Haya of Dubai and Sheikha Mozah of Qatar. The attention and respect they command by virtue or their positions, very much similar to those of the first ladies of America and other Western nations, guarantee success to any initiative they take to serve their gender, nation, community, region or any cause dear to the wider humanity. In fact, they have an advantage over the wives of Western leaders in that they don’t have to play politics since their husbands are not seeking re-election and don’t have to pander to prejudices.

The examples set by these princesses, I hope, will open the way into public life for the wives and daughters of ordinary citizens of Dubai, Qatar and other Arab and Muslim countries. They have already cleared that path of the biggest mines that await women who dare to anything novel: Fatwas screaming “haram” that would have come thick and thunder-like from self-appointed muftis had they been ladies from ordinary Arab families.

May their pioneering role mark the beginning of a ground shift in our part of the world.

Munir Abdul Hayy, Dammam published 1 October 2008

Bailout scam

It is good that the US Congress has turned down, for the time at least, the scheme thought up by US financial wizards together with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to make ordinary Americans pay for the greed of the big sharks in the world’s financial waters. Putting into effect the policy of “nationalizing losses and privatizing profits,” the group had come out with its $700-billion bailout plan.

It is almost certain that, though thwarted for the moment, Wall Street would find ways to get away with this record bailout, swindling American taxpayers to ensure that the bankers whose greed and recklessness wiped off the lifetime earnings of so many hard-working families suffer no discomfort. However, there is no plan to bail out the homeowners who have lost everything. Barack Obama had a point when he blamed the administration for focusing only on Wall Street and totally ignoring the Main Street.

S.H. Moulana, Riyadh published 1 October 2008

Iran at UN

Your headline “Ahmadinejad’s speech at UN draws fire” (Sept. 25) was a bit of overplay. It suggested that the Iranian president had said something that so incensed Israel and America that they reacted with something particularly worrying, something that we had not seen or heard before. But what is so new about the Israeli Zionist statements criticizing Iran or anyone that opposes Israel’s hegemonic and racist policies, in the region and in the wider world?

As an American, I am offended at the fact that the leaders of America give obeisance to Israel seeking the approval of Zionist American organizations while ignoring organizations that are wholly American and for Americans. It is time for Israel to be held accountable for its cruel and inhumane treatment of the peoples who once lived the area that has now been called Israel. It is time the US government owned up its responsibility in creating and perpetuating this tragedy and acknowledged it to the peoples of the world.

Jerry Copeland, United States published 1 October 2008

Politics, not reporting

The report “US, Pakistan see Al-Qaeda hand” (Sept. 22) stated, “’The sophistication of the blast shows it’s the work of Al-Qaeda,’ a Pakistani intelligence officer told Reuters.”

Come on, Reuters can do better reporting than that. The RDX explosive used is a plastic product that’s not something that anyone can make in a cave in the mountains of Pakistan. Probably, it was stolen from Pakistan’s military sources, since the country makes a lot of RDX.

The sophistication of the attack shows it was perpetrated by a sophisticated organization. Anything beyond that is speculation. Let’s not contribute to the tendency to use events like this to further political agenda — any political agenda. That’s not news reporting; it’s politics.

Paul Wolf, Jeddah published 1 October 2008