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UPDATED Thursday, September 13, 2001
4:00 PM Cairo time
 Your letters
(Letters to the editor)
Our readers' comments on cairolive's coverage of the devastating terror attack on the US
Post your own comment here
READ MORE LETTERS HERE
Sir:
The problem in reality is with Bin Laden against Saudis. Israel is only a side effect.
The oil and the rest of the Arab World are the reason for all the terrorism.
Henry A. Cittone
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Hello:
The attacks on our country are unbelievable and many lives of innocent people have been lost. Many of these people were also Arabs and Muslims. The Arab nations however have lost the most. You have been disgraced by one of your own. He disgraces your nations, your religion, your people. You have been beaten by his terror. He makes you look untrustworthy, evil and not human. I have many friends here in the US who are Muslim and I am sorry about the way that Bin Laden makes them look. The Arab nations owe it to themselves to rid their societies of people like him that disgrace you.
Jim Sequin
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Hello:
Great two articles on the crisis. Actually probably the best two I have read (and I've read a bunch and seen even more). Supposedly Friday prayers has been cancelled at area mosques in the States and there are a bunch of threats and pigs' blood left on mosque doors and stuff like that. It is disgusting.
Ashraf
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Sir:
Whatever condemnations Arab presidents showed up on TV to convey, comfort is one of the words that can be used to describe the feeling of the Arab citizens after the American blast. Still, the Americans have to stop blaming Arabs. The only way to overcome this dilemma is to let the Americans ask themselves: Why are we -- specifically -- being targeted by these terrorist attacks? Why not Israelis instead? The answer is as simple as the fact that US is biased towards Israel and has anti-Arab sentiments. Moreover, all the strings in the middle east are moved -- unfairly -- by the US.
The more righteous you are to others, the more others are righteous to you.
It is very interesting that the Americans themselves began realizing that it is their own faults -- not others -- that led to the attack, but I'm sorry this realization has happened
through the use of power, not choice. Thank you for this wall-to-wall and exclusive coverage.
Mostafa
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Dear Sir:
My sympathy is with the victims of the tragedy.
At the same time the wall-to-wall coverage of the incident, and the tone of urgency that accompanies it, makes it all too clear how unjust it is that the Palestinians have been killed every day for years and people hardly say a thing.
Iman
Dear Iman:
Your sympathy is greatly appreciated. However, the wall to wall coverage
you speak of has kept the plight of the Palestinian people in American homes for decades.
Day by day, week by week on and on, one body at a time - Palestinian AND Israeli! If the
death toll in NY rises to expected numbers it will eclipse the entire death toll from FIVE
YEARS of endless bickering over an ugly patch of sand . I am sick and tired of your insane killing in the names of your respective gods. I harbor no ill will for anyone because of their faith, race, color or creed and yet my country is now being attacked because of your unending squabbling. The symbol of my country is a mighty eagle with outstretched
wings, an olive branch in one talon and arrows in the other. The eagle is coming and it is
time for you to choose-the olive branch or the arrows.
GOD BLESS AMERICA,
Robert Pike
Dear Iman and Robert Pike:
Please know that I care about all peoples in the world. I understand only a
few people in all countries are bad people. Good leadership seems to be the
most important factor in the difficult puzzle of finding world peace.
I am over thirty years old, and have been living in the USA since
I was ten. I am a Muslim, born and raised in Jerusalem. I speak both
English and Arabic and understand some Hebrew. I am a culturally diverse
person.
Below is a copy of an opinion letter written by me for printing.
The letter below reflects my opinion of some important truths. I
encourage and give you my permission to reprint it in your newspaper. With
great love for the human race, I send you this letter. I would appreciate
any suggestions you may have to share with me, thank you for your time.
The USA, along with most people of the world, are taking a strong
stand against terrorism. Most countries throughout the world, many who have
experienced terrorism themselves, have sent the USA their heart felt
condolences. It seems most people of the world share our pain. Even Iran
has denounced terrorism.
People throughout the world have come forward to join us in our
resolve to end terrorism. Truly, our pain has united the entire world
against the ominous fear peddled by terrorists.
In our attempt to curb terrorism, I think a close look ought to be
given to Israel. Israel is guilty of great acts of abuse against the
Palestinians. How is this not terrorism?
How is attacking unarmed Palestinians not terrorism? How is Israel's
systematic genocide of the Palestinians not terrorism? How is providing arms
to Israel not supporting terrorists? Let's not just go after some
terrorists, let's stop them all. Let's stand with the world against all
terrorism.
Please say a special prayer for all people that have been killed by
terrorists. And please be assured the pain of having loved ones killed by
the Israelis, is no less than the pain felt by loved ones of people killed by
Osama bin Laden. Be proud, take a stand against all terrorism. Hold Israel
accountable, and while were at it, let's end racism.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
ALLAH BLESS PALESTINE
Hanan Shawar
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To Whom it May Concern:
I think that you should know that most Americans do NOT think that innocent lives should be lost -- we simply want justice, and the only way to find any satisfaction in justice is to get the guilty parties and ONLY the guilty parties. Also, we are looking inside the United States for the culprit. We are not the monsters many think we are.
Deanna
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Hi:
I just wanted to say that I have appreciated reading your articles today and yesterday. Over here, people have no idea about how the conflict between Israel & the Palestinians is such the root of many of problems with the Arab nations. Its kind of hard to explain to them the bigger picture issues, when everyone seems to be in a retaliatory mood. I am forwarding the hyperlink to your article to a few of my friends so that they can have a more balanced view. I deeply regret the rising anti-Muslim sentiment in wake of the horrific tragedy and hope that your friends and family here remain safe and aren't personally exposed to the type of racism and hysteria that the Japanese-Americans faced during WWII.
Take care. Thanks again for your insights.
Jeannie
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Gentlemen:
I read your report on the crisis happening in my country, and I found it to be non-biased and an excellent piece of work regarding how much of the Arab world feels. Anger at US intervention in some things, and the half-assed approach in things that the Arab people feel the US should be assisting in. Nervousness at who would catch the brunt of the rage, and the causes of it.
My respect, gentlemen. And let me say, although I an American, I do not blame all Arabs, nor all members of a country that may have sponsored this act of terrorism. I blame the people responsible.
Let us pray that this can be resolved quickly and concisely, without needless bloodshed, and that it does not happen to any other country, or to this one again.
Mike Downs
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Sir:
I am an American. I am not pro-Zionist. I often disagree with my county's
policies, especially in foreign policy. I feel that my country has
unnecessarily developed strained relations with Arab and or Islamic countries.
For example I felt that the United States should have helped Afghanistan in
its conflict with Russia
Nevertheless I strongly disagree with the tone of your article on the
cowardly terrorist attack in New York yesterday. You agreed with the
sentiment expressed by Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin that "America is reaping
what it sows in oppression."
To suggest that the United States and its people have earned this treatment
reveals more than blind, unwavering bias. It indicates a level of
developmentally arrested thinking, and a moral code that is better suited to
the dark ages.
While I and most Americans will condemn blanket anti-Arab or anti-Muslim
aggression toward people here, unfortunately this will occur. It will be
fought.
But this act of incomparable cowardice, like one would expect from a pack of
dogs, must not and will not go unanswered. Your article tries to portray the
idea of comparing this tragedy to the attack on Pearl Harbor 60 years ago as
merely an attempt to raise anti-Arab or anti-Muslim fervor. You are wrong.
It is the effeminate people who perpetrated this crime that did it. It is an
act of war and must be addressed as such.
So, your feigned indignation that The United States should "be turning to
revenge" is ludicrous. If it is your desire that this should not be made
into an Arab or Muslim issue, then Arabs and Muslims should dispel the notion
that they offer any support in any way to this act of aggression or its
perpetrators. Call it what it is: a crime. Outrightly and without
qualification, denounce it.
Trijiano
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Dear Sir:
As we search for the guilty party in yesterday's horror and tragedy,
perhaps we should use a mirror...
We sat idly by while our sanctions killed half a million children in Iraq, their tiny lives wracked by disease and malnutrition. We watched TV while 20,000 human beings were killed by our ally and our funding in Lebanon, their blood drenching the streets.
We went conveniently about our business while our weapons killed and maimed
children throughout Palestine, their bullet-riddle bodies embraced by weeping parents.
We ate our pizza and quiche while families in Gaza starved, their hollow eyes watching US weapons destroy their lives. We went shopping while our taxes paid for the
imprisonment and torture of thousands of Palestinian fathers and sons, and
sometimes wives and mothers, their screams echoing silently through our
conveniently closed-down consciences.
We protected our careers while Palestinians begged for our help. We prayed comfortably for peace while we paid abundantly for violence. We know who bears the responsibility for the American planes that so horribly, cruelly, and mercilessly killed human beings
in Ramallah.
Could it be that those same people bear the responsibility for the planes that so horribly, cruelly, and mercilessly killed human beings in New York?
And now, unless we - finally - begin to act courageously, honestly, morally, and unceasingly, we will bear the awful responsibility for those thousands of others who are about to die - from the vengeance our media, our government, and our neighbors are screaming for. Please, please, please, please, please stop standing by, your head
turned away, your eyes unseeing.
Alison Weir
Dear Sir:
Correct me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that Saddam Hussein is a BILLIONAIRE many times over. Is it not true that his son runs the biggest black market in the middle east, and that the medical and food supplies that come from throughout the world, earmarked for humanitarian aid are confiscated, and that if you are part of the
popular ruling class in Iraq you can buy the supplies at ten times their market value? On this black market.
Most Americans grieve for the loss of human life, ours, yours and especially that of women and children.
And what did you do? Did you go without? Did you send aid? We have tried to hold peace accords. We have tried to end the violence.
You have got to be kidding! Do all peoples of the Middle East
bear responsibility for the terrorism that is a plague on humanity? OF
COURSE NOT!
The time has come to stop terrorism. To move toward a mutual respect for each other. We must remove the cancer "terrorists" that has been infecting all of us, for to long. It will not be pleasant. It is a war. In a war no one wins. If you believe that suicide acts of
terrorism in the name of GOD, is what it takes to please GOD and win a so called Holy war, you are gravely mistaken. And YOU are responsible for the death of the innocent. You are the cancer that needs to be removed. In the end the world will be a better place for all to worship, to raise families, to become better educated, and to live a higher
quality of life. My love goes out to all who seek the betterment of humanity. And you are my human family, so I seek the best treatment for the cancer that is plaguing us, and pray for a speedy recovery from the necessary surgery. God bless you all.
Alex
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READ MORE LETTERS HERE
Previous stories:
Unimaginable terror:
Who will be hit next?
Cairenes -- like the rest of the world -- remain glued to their television screens early Wednesday morning, shocked by the events unfolding before the world's eyes.
Confusion on the second day:
The devastating terror attack on the US: New developments from Cairo, New York, Washington, Afghanistan and around the world
Praying for patience and moderation
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