[Peace-discuss] Letters in Today's LA Times

[David Green]

May 19, 2005

Re "Do Riots Save Islam's Honor?" Commentary, May 17:
There are more than a billion people worldwide who
look at the Koran, the holy book of Islam, as a part
of their identity. It is no surprise to hear that
people across the globe were outraged by hearing that
the words of God were literally being flushed down the
toilet. So to read that Irshad Manji is attempting to
speak on the behalf of all Muslims and call into
question this legitimate reaction from the Muslim
world is outrageous. 

Manji attempts to blame the Muslims for the deaths
that have occurred in light of the recent headlines.
Yet she fails to acknowledge that those who have died
in the protests of Afghanistan have died at the hands
of their pro-American government. So perhaps rather
than pointing a finger at the Muslims, we should try
something new and take blame for our mistakes. 

Rama Sabeh

Anaheim

*

Although it seems that Newsweek violated its own
guidelines in the way it reported the story, it is a
gross oversimplification to suggest that its article
caused the riots. A significant body of research has
established that riots have long-standing structural
causes, such as pervasive discrimination, poverty and
shifting power dynamics. Research shows that riots do
tend to have triggering events — such as the report of
Guantanamo abuses — but these events only explain the
timing of the riot. 

The structural conditions contributing to tremendous
enmity in the Muslim world toward U.S. policies
persist. Newsweek's editor, Mark Whitaker, was correct
in characterizing the retracted article as "the match
that lit a fire." 

Any number of events could have triggered these deadly
riots, but the fuel was (and still is) there. If the
Bush administration insists on ignoring this fact, our
actions in the Middle East will continue to fail. 

Betsy McEneaney

Asst. Prof. of Sociology

Cal State Long Beach

*

Regarding Michael Ramirez's May 17 editorial cartoon:
I think that Newsweek should indeed apologize to the
victims of the riots that it provoked. Right after the
Bush administration apologizes to all the people who
have been killed or maimed because of the numerous
mistakes it has made in prosecuting this unnecessary
war in Iraq, and perhaps takes back the medals it
awarded to some of its top mistake-makers. That should
keep Newsweek off the hook forever.

Matt Frey

Sierra Madre

*

The May 17 editorial "Selective Outrage" states, "The
more interesting question may not be how Newsweek
goofed, but why the Muslim world is so ready to
believe the story." There is more to it than that.
After the documented abuses at Abu Ghraib and
Guantanamo, the administration's position that we do
not have to observe the Geneva Convention, and its
startling definitions of torture, how many of our own
country's citizens find the Newsweek story completely
believable? It's all consistent with the actions the
U.S. has taken and is still taking. We should be
concerned not only with how we are perceived by others
but how we perceive ourselves. 

Suzanne Fishman

Hermosa Beach



		
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