Letters to the Editor (of Saudi Arabia's Arab News; from Americans)

Arab News ^ | 5-7-02

[SJackson]

United we stand

I came across your website while I was looking for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. I was trying to contact them and give them my opinion.

I am an American who would gladly ride a bike or a horse to work so we do not have to rely on oil from Saudi Arabia. They come to the United States and pretend to be our friends.

On the other hand, they support terrorism and are trying to undermine the United States. I know this and so do many Americans. I just hope that President Bush realizes this too. United we stand!!!! .

Alice Charlie, USA, published 7 May 2002

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Palestinians

How do you define a Palestinian since there never was a country called Palestine? Are not the occupied territories land that formerly belonged to Egypt and Jordan? How do these people who are now called Palestinians differ from Jordanians and Egyptians? Just wondering.

Richard Dunlap, USA, published 7 May 2002

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Muslims, stay home

Since World War II, the saying around the world which is supposed to hurt Americans’ feelings is, "Yankee, go home!" I propose to alter that, now, to "Muslims, stay home."

I’m thinking this after having read three editorials in the last few days, one by Ann Coulter which was violently xenophobic but as far as I can see, contained no out-and-out fabrications.

One by William F. Buckley discussing the Arabic ability not only to lie, but to build great flowering jungles of lies, and then your equal ability to believe each other’s lies. Makes me wonder if there is some other definition of "truth" in Arabic than what we understand it is in English. The third editorial I just read was Friedman, discussing how Americans need to reach out to Muslim youth to counteract the lies they are assimilating from such as you, Khaled, and your on-line newspaper. And, frankly, I doan wanna.

The one person Friedman quotes in detail is some young woman from Jakarta who admits she gets all her news off the Arabic Muslim Internet sites — as opposed to "all" the other Internet sites in the universe. And if she is stupid enough to believe that bunch of bullshit (sorry, I know you don’t like profanity) as opposed to every single thing else printed to the contrary (I’m referring specifically right now to "massacres" in Jenin) then she is too dumb to live, and I wash my hands of her. And all the other young Muslims like her. And mature Muslims ... like you.

I am specifically not interested in funding scholarships to bring her and her ilk to the United States to study. I am not interested in funding rebuilding efforts for Palestinians. And I am not interested in wasting money on propaganda or educational efforts to send to the Middle East (nor Jakarta). I’m really not interested in further funding of anything to do with maintaining Egypt’s current government. And would be thrilled and delighted if the Pentagon decided to yank American troops out of Riyadh (yanking the Yanks, so to speak).

I have given up on a whole religion and culture, mainly because I have given up on you. If a man of your intelligence, education, experience, and multi-cultural travels believes the lies you write and print, then there can be no hope of any interaction with the rest of humanity. And I want to just put your whole people in quarantine until you self-immolate and melt-down ... and go away. We don’t need you.

In the meantime, I’m not real thrilled about the Muslims who are already here in the United States (see 60 Minutes from last week, interviewing American teenaged students from a Muslim school in Michigan) — and if they don’t change their tune "real" fast, they can "go home", too. At least the American-Japanese during and after WWII "were" Americans — whereas these Muslims who live in America do not make that same claim, not even the ones born here. We can add a line to the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, which has historically welcomed all immigrants from all around the world, "Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free — unless you’re Muslim; then, go away and leave us alone."

Nancy Gee, Los Angeles, USA, published 7 May 2002

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[sleavelessinseattle]

BTTT,

[DB]

Nancy Gee told'em...

The sad thing is she is right.

[SJackson]

Yeah. At least the print the letters in the English version.

[pgkdan]

WOW! Nancy and Alice sound like my kind of women! ;-)

[sheik yerbouty]

Oooooohhhhhhhh! the effendis are now offended!