Nada Bakri
Lebanese parties slam calls for dissent by Syria's Tishrin
(November 16)
Syria should clean its house before criticizing the Lebanese regime. Syria has done enough damage to Lebanon and it is about time it leaves Lebanon alone.
Mike George
Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.
Agencies
Saudi Arabia has capacity to boost oil output
(November 16)
More fossil fuel translates into ever-greater amounts of greenhouse gases and toxins. The human race may be facing extinction just as so many species are. I think the next hurricane season will be interesting. Maybe the Saudis are helping us get it over with.
Steve Chase
Cazadero, California, U.S.A.
Khaled Duzdar
"After Amman, pity what Islam has lost"
(November 15)
This was an excellent analysis. Osama bin Laden et al are just plain nuts if they think that their minority of Muslims can bring about a return to a caliphate. These radicals just do not have a message, except one of violence, and they are in the minority of Muslims.
Galen Woods
Decatur, Illinois, U.S.A.
Nahla Atiyah
"The discreet charms of the domestic worker"
(November 14)
I wish to let you know how disappointed I was to read this article in your paper. It was forwarded to me by at least 12 different people who were outraged to read what Nahla Atiyah had to say. I volunteer for an organization based in New York that helps Lebanon, and your newspaper featured an article on the art auction that we organized last Sunday. Some of the outraged e-mails that I have received came from foreigners (some of Lebanese descent) who made donations that benefit Lebanese NGOs at this auction. They read The Daily Star because of your coverage of the art auction, and stumbled upon Atiyah's article. "Are such condescending views common? Is this what people think about 'domestics' in the country that you asked me to support?" were the questions that came back to us. Thank you for projecting such a poor image of our country.
Kinda Younes
New York, New York, U.S.A.
Kaelen Wilson-Goldie
"Laying down roots in Beirut's Garden of Forgiveness"
(November 11)
A small group of women from New York who lost family members on September 11, 2001, recently visited Beirut as part of a group promoting understanding and dialogue between cultures. Organized by a group of American and Arab CEOs, the purpose of this journey was to open a doorway to understanding and healing while exploring the ideas and intention behind the Garden of Forgiveness, Hadiquat as Samah, in central Beirut, and to examine the possibilities for this to happen at Ground Zero in New York and other places in the world.
Their visit was marked by the planting of an olive tree, on the site allocated for the Garden of Forgiveness in Solidere. This simple gesture for peace and forgiveness became an emotionally charged experience, especially for those who had lost loved ones on September 11, 2001, and for whom any form of acknowledgement is a source of comfort. Standing humbly at the corner of this site, whose construction has only just begun, this young olive tree was transformed into the living symbol of what the Garden of Forgiveness stands for: a public space devoted entirely for the reconciliation between people, for forgiveness, without which, true and enduring peace cannot be achieved.
The intent for peace and forgiveness that fueled this ceremony, and the very purpose of these visitor's journey, were however, entirely lost on The Daily Star reporter, one of several members of the press which had been invited to witness the event. The cynicism and ridicule with which The Daily Star covered this story was, to be frank, entirely out of context. The reporter appears to have been more concerned with the particularities of certain individuals in the delegation than the meaning of their noble gesture and their courage in undertaking this journey.
In questioning the link between the concept for the Garden of Forgiveness and the victims of September 11, 2001, as well as for who this forgiveness is for, or for what, The Daily Star also appears to have forgotten that grief and loss have no boundaries, and neither should forgiveness and compassion. But I suppose such concepts are too often lost in the cynicism, sensationalism and ignorance of the press.
Lebanon doesn't often receive positive press, and as a country, is fractured enough as it is, without the media unnecessarily adding to such tensions and divisions. Perhaps if the press actually highlighted the more noble principles that humanity is capable of rather than belittling them, people might be encouraged to reflect upon them. Such an attitude is not unheard of in the press, but in this particular report, The Daily Star completely missed the point, and in so doing, lost an opportunity to use its coverage responsibly.
Rosie Abdallah
Beirut, Lebanon
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