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Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: Opinion
Attack on U.S. Gaza relief funds
is "Islamophobic"
On March 11 an opinion column in the State Hornet by Mitchell Wilson caused some concern for Muslim students on campus. His article, "Gaza relief is a big mistake", was full of anti-Palestinian rhetoric, and included some disturbing ideas about the ongoing conflict. The Muslim Students' Association of Sac State decided to take a look at his column and evaluate his argument.
What we found disturbed us. In response, we decided to write to you, the editor, to explain our grievances and perspective. We hope that in doing so, we bring balance to the approach given by Wilson, and pinpoint some of the false attributes that he wrongly accuses the Palestinians of bearing.
Wilson, in his introduction asks, "Does anybody actually believe that the money won't fall into the bloodthirsty hands of Hamas?" Wilson seems to be unaware of the death toll of the recent conflict - more than 1,200 Palestinian deaths compared to 12 Israeli deaths and wrongly attributes Hamas as being "bloodthirsty." Furthermore, as "woody" on the comments page so succinctly illustrated, the truth behind the conflict is as follows: "And guess what: Sderot is built on the bulldozed remains of a Palestinian village (Najd) whose inhabitants were forced to flee by Jewish terrorists in 1948 just before the State of Israel was declared. It's stolen land. The Israeli town referred to, Sderot, was the primary recipient of the Palestinian rocket fire-in which only a handful of Israeli's were killed."
While we do not condone any measure or action that intentionally harms civilians, we feel that Wilson is ignoring the disproportionate atrocities inflicted against the Palestinians. Mr. Wilson, it seems, has just begun - "I see $900 million scheduled to be stolen and given to terrorists all over the world." In one simple sentence he connects Palestinians, who are suffering in Gaza, to "terrorists all over the world." This is a blatant attempt to vilify the Palestinians and persuade the reader against holding any sympathy towards the Palestinian people.
is "Islamophobic"
On March 11 an opinion column in the State Hornet by Mitchell Wilson caused some concern for Muslim students on campus. His article, "Gaza relief is a big mistake", was full of anti-Palestinian rhetoric, and included some disturbing ideas about the ongoing conflict. The Muslim Students' Association of Sac State decided to take a look at his column and evaluate his argument.
What we found disturbed us. In response, we decided to write to you, the editor, to explain our grievances and perspective. We hope that in doing so, we bring balance to the approach given by Wilson, and pinpoint some of the false attributes that he wrongly accuses the Palestinians of bearing.
Wilson, in his introduction asks, "Does anybody actually believe that the money won't fall into the bloodthirsty hands of Hamas?" Wilson seems to be unaware of the death toll of the recent conflict - more than 1,200 Palestinian deaths compared to 12 Israeli deaths and wrongly attributes Hamas as being "bloodthirsty." Furthermore, as "woody" on the comments page so succinctly illustrated, the truth behind the conflict is as follows: "And guess what: Sderot is built on the bulldozed remains of a Palestinian village (Najd) whose inhabitants were forced to flee by Jewish terrorists in 1948 just before the State of Israel was declared. It's stolen land. The Israeli town referred to, Sderot, was the primary recipient of the Palestinian rocket fire-in which only a handful of Israeli's were killed."
While we do not condone any measure or action that intentionally harms civilians, we feel that Wilson is ignoring the disproportionate atrocities inflicted against the Palestinians. Mr. Wilson, it seems, has just begun - "I see $900 million scheduled to be stolen and given to terrorists all over the world." In one simple sentence he connects Palestinians, who are suffering in Gaza, to "terrorists all over the world." This is a blatant attempt to vilify the Palestinians and persuade the reader against holding any sympathy towards the Palestinian people.
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Rolling Thunder
posted 4/16/09 @ 11:08 PM PST
An amazing response, especially at the end when disputing the amount of funds being delivered to the Gaza Strip versus Israel.
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