Reader's Feedback Published on 03/05/2008
Readers' Letters and Opinions
letters@dailystar.com.lb
The Daily Star is pleased to provide a forum for debate on a range of subjects, from local cultural activities to international politics.
Dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of letters fall into the editor's mailbox daily. In order to keep the letters timely, The Daily Star generally produces a special letters section. When the influx of letters is particularly large, extra space is made available accordingly.
If you would like to submit a letter for publication, please remember to include your full name (first and last) and address, including city. The Daily Star only publishes letters under 400 words, and these are subject to editing. The Daily Star will not acknowledge unsolicited submissions.
Michael Young
"The pros and cons
of a Lebanese dialogue"
May 1 , 2008
Michael Young distorts the position of General Michel Aoun regarding the presidential elections in Lebanon.
First of, he considers it "gentle" to downgrade General Aoun's request for an all-party dialogue to a conversation between neo-feudal lords. How is it gentle to drive Lebanon back in time and hinder the democratic process of open dialogues?
Young also claims that General Aoun is after the presidential seat, when in fact he opposes electing a symbolic president as Emile Lahoud was, with no true responsibilities or power. His goal is to reinforce the authority of the state and bolster Lebanese democracy and the rule of law, and not particularly to be be president.
Young also speaks of "Christian rage," and claims that General Aoun is using it to reach power. This is preposterous since General Aoun is the mastermind behind Lebanese national sentiment, and the idea of rejecting sectarian labeling and the religious segregation of the Lebanese.
For an American national, your writer has a peculiar attitude toward religious segregation, which is akin to racial segregation. I can picture him covering the civil rights movements 60 years ago. I presume he would have called Dr. Martin Luther King a power monger feeding on black rage!
Young should know that segregating the Lebanese by their religions, in his articles, and denying the anti-sectarian message of General Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement which he launched, is no different than insisting on using the "n" word in the US, after a civil rights movement spent decades educating the media to not do that.
Hala Chaoui
Readers' opinions
A front page article entitled "Turkish Cypriot president takes walk down Ledra Street in show of goodwill" in your edition of April 12, 2008, is misleading.
There is no such thing as a Turkish Cypriot "president" or even a Greek Cypriot president in Cyprus. There is only one president in Cyprus, and this is the president of the government of the Republic of Cyprus, who happens to be the leader of the Greek community in Cyprus, according to the current Constitution of Cyprus. Our dear compatriot Mehmet Ali Talat is currently representing the Turkish community and until a viable compromise is reached on the Cyprus issue he heads an illegal subordinate authority imposed on the northern part of Cyprus by occupying Turkish forces since the 1974 invasion.
International law and specifically United Nations Security Council resolutions 541/1983 and 550/1984 clearly describe the regime in the northern part of Cyprus as illegitimate asking the international community - this also addresses the media community, especially the quality press like yours, not to recognize or facilitate elements and/or actions of the Turkish Cypriot puppet regime; and therefore both the international and national media outlets should carefully apply appropriate sensitivity when addressing aspects of the situation in the island.
Mind you that this is not a debatable case about the arguments of the Greeks and the Turks in Cyprus; this is how the appropriate bodies of the United Nations Organization
have decided about the issue at hands. Please respect it.
Kyriacos Kouros
charge d'affaires
Beirut
May 8 marks Israel's 60th Independence Day. Close to 80 percent of the country's population who are Jewish citizens will be celebrating or at least identifying with the holiday, while the rest of the country's population who are Arab citizens will be thinking of that day as the day of the "Nakba" or catastrophe!
Sixty years on, a whole generation on both sides of the "wall" still live under uncertainty, attacks and counter ones, sadness on one part and celebrations on the other.
One could ask: Where are we since 1948? What have the the world in general and the Arab world in particular done to bridge the gap between the two parties for a just and peaceful solution? Nothing.
Both Israel and the Palestinians are continually harming each other, making the separation between the two communities bigger and farther apart than any other time in history. All the so-called efforts, from the road map, to Annapolis, did little to solve this problem. I believe that there has not been any continuous faithful efforts by all the mediators down through the years whose fingers are in the cooking pot in seriously looking to bring an end to this ongoing problem that already has impacted many of the misconceptions between the West and the Arab countries and Islam as a religion.
The appointment of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the envoy of the Quartet group in the past year to steer the group in looking for a solution has done little on that front. It looks like this position was a tailored creation to keep Blair happy and give him something to do after leaving 10 Downing Street. Wasn't he the man who promised when he was still prime minister that he will be working day and night sparing no effort or stones unturned to bring peace? Was it all empty words like the words we hear locally from our so-called politicians?
Many problems and conflicts that lingered for many years in countries around the globe in the past century have come and gone. Solutions were found and these same countries are enjoying nowadays relative peace. What is it with the Arab-Israeli conflict that there is no end in sight? Who is to blame? The international community, involved parties, the Arab world?? It's the $1 billion question (as $1 million is only change in our day and age).
With the US presidency post up for grabs, the hope of my generation in this part of the world is for whoever wins the upcoming elections to give this problem their utmost importance lest it linger on for another generation.
Have both people not had enough of killings, hatred, divisions and disunity between them? Are the Arab leaders content to maintain the status quo?
I hope not.
The Middle East deserves to live in peace and harmony.
Edmond M. Khoury
Beirut
|
Printable Version 
Send to a friend 