Right of Return

Ray Hanania’s claim, in his commentary “Palestinians Must Accept Reality of the ‘Right of Return’” (April 25), that “the return” is the essence of the Palestine-Israel conflict couldn’t be further from the truth. The real essence of the Palestine-Israel conflict is injustice. This injustice stems from years of suffocating occupation. The reality of the right of return should never be negotiable; it is an issue that must be decided after Israel ends its occupation and there is a sovereign Palestinian country.

While Hanania unrealistically tries to convince us that the Palestinian refugees should accept the reality that they overwhelmingly will not have the right to return, Palestinian human rights within the Palestinian territories are consistently being violated by the Israelis, Palestinian land continues to be seized, and Jews from around the world continue to immigrate to Israel sometimes settling in these usurped Palestinian territories while Palestinians are forced to live in refugee camps inside Gaza and the West Bank. Hanania seems to be one of those with the mindset that it is the oppressed Palestinians who must compromise in order to resolve the conflict. Must I remind him that it was the Palestinian rights that were unjustly taken away, not the Israelis’, and that this mindset has been part of the problem and not the solution?

If we really care to correct this grave injustice, Palestinian rights must be restored first. The practice of placing Israeli rights above Palestinian, and forcing the Palestinians to negotiate for their rights is absurd, as if Palestinian human rights are somehow different from that of their Israeli counterparts. This has been the wrong formula to begin with and that is why the conflict hasn’t been resolved. If the nations of the world and its people are truly serious about resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, then they must stop expecting the Palestinian side to negotiate for their God-given rights.

Marion Mourtada, Dearborn Hts., MI. US published 6 May 2005

Illegal Residents

“What Are We Going to Do About Illegal Residents?” asked Raid Qusti in his May 4 article. I can tell him what will not work with illegal overstayers: Integrating them into Saudi society. That will not work.

They indulge in illegal activities, and now you want to give them an iqama? How does that solve the problem? They still will not have a legal source of income. What I advocate is action that will discourage them from wanting to become illegal residents. How, one may ask. Well, the steps Qusti mentioned are OK, but do not go far enough. Do more. If an illegal overstayer is caught, sentence him without delay to six months’ chain-gang duty. For those who are not familiar with that term, let me explain: Chain them up in groups of 20 and let them work cleaning up the streets, digging ditches where necessary or just cleaning up the beaches. Make them sweat and work hard so that they do not want to get caught as an illegal.

That is what will make everybody think twice before becoming an “illegal resident.”

K. Alwassia, Jeddah published 6 May 2005

Illegal Residents [2]

Raid Qusti’s article described a very disturbing situation. If it is true that the number of illegal immigrants is in millions, it is a cause for worry indeed. No country can afford to have such a high number of illegal immigrants; the fear that the situation will provide a fertile ground for unlawful activities is justified.

However, there is another side to this critical issue. There are employers who offer jobs to such illegal immigrants for wages much lower than the normal rate. This is advantageous to both parties. Hence a crackdown on anti-social elements should be undertaken along with a crackdown on illegal employers.

As one who has stayed in Saudi Arabia for more than 12 years, I know that there are innumerable illegal avenues for getting employment. Blocking those avenues will definitely result in reducing the number of illegal immigrants.

Jayaraman Ramkumar, Alkhobar published 6 May 2005

Missing Sense of Justice

As an expatriate from a Third World country who has been in the Kingdom for the last 24 years, I have been subjected, all my life here, to the blunt ordering Lubna Hussain described in her article “Thank you, Ma’am. Have a Nice Day” (May 1). I was recently put behind bars for 13 hours in Jeddah, for an apparent traffic violation that I know I did not commit. I was treated like a captured serial killer, who was in line to be executed — screamed at, pushed and called insulting names by the prison guards and officers, not to mention just being shipped into jail without letting me speak or being heard. It was really heartbreaking. It is not only religious tolerance that we Muslims seem to be lacking; it is tolerance and a sense of justice in general. It really is a shame.

In my own ineffective way, I do try and raise my voice to correct the situation where and when possible. But being somewhat of a nobody in the big picture, my voice goes unheard. I love this country. There is so much beauty here, so much potential, yet so much intolerance. I believe passionately in Islam, in its beauty. Islam’s beauty is in its humanity and compassion, which unfortunately is very hard to come by these days, dare I say, especially in the land of its birth. May Allah bless and guide us all.

Faizaan Ali, Jeddah published 6 May 2005

Missing Sense of Justice [2]

A nice article. Lubna Hussain made a great point. For what it is worth, let me say this: It is not only the Muslims; it is the same with far too many of the Christians — the fanatical, self-righteous overzealous ones. Go with God, and have a nice day.

Wayne Rice, United States published 6 May 2005

Missing Sense of Justice [3]

I fully agree with Lubna Hussain that “compassion, consideration and empathy produce lasting change whereas intolerance, derision and injustice culminate in contempt”. The man that confronted her belongs to a group of people that brings disgrace to our religion. Islam teaches us to be humble, polite and courteous. It also tells us to show respect to all, especially when addressing women.

I believe we Muslims have broadly divided ourselves into many groups: Those who, having studied the religion and gained a good understanding about it, are moderate in their views; a fundamentalist group who simply repeat what they have heard from their elders and learn nothing new; those who want to impose their views on others, like the man Lubna encountered; and those who are brainwashed and have no knowledge of the religion but like to portray themselves as religious by outward appearance. This is very unfortunate, but this is the way it seems to be. We must contribute all our efforts to portray Islam in its right perspective. I congratulate Lubna for doing what she can in this regard with courage.

Abdul Hai, Jeddah published 6 May 2005

Politics in Indian Schools

What the report “IISJ Election in June” tells us is that plans for yet another attack on the pockets of Indian parents will be finalized soon. While India is making its mark in the international arena with its remarkable economic growth and technological ability as evidenced by its IT sector, here in the Kingdom, Indian schools are making their mark in a different way — with their extravaganza in selecting managing committees. We wonder if someone from the Indian Embassy or schools would issue a press release to inform Indian parents of the rules and regulations that exempt Indian schools from the Saudi Ministry of Education’s rules governing the management of schools in the Kingdom. Recently, a mammoth circular was issued to the electorate detailing many do’s and don’ts that favors a few and debars many Indian parents from the election process.

We don’t know why our government does not pay any heed to the cry of Kingdom-based NRIs to keep politics away from Indian schools.

Mumtaz Shah, Jeddah published 6 May 2005

Extremists

Nobody will disagree with Naushad Shamimul Haque’s argument in his article “Extremists Should Not Be Allowed to Distort the True Image of Islam” (April 29). Everything written is true and not a single Muslim in the world will argue about that. However, is it not true that blanket condemnation without going into the causes behind the phenomenon of extremism just serves to help countries like the US and Israel, who are the primary causes of extremism? They have stolen Muslim lands and wealth, killing Muslims all over the world. The victims do not have the power to fight them on their terms. So they follow the only way to fight back — extremism.

Hence, while discussing extremism, we should, in the interest of fairness, talk about both aspects of the issue. Just blaming extremists will only help the countries that are planning to grab whatever they want without running the risk of opposition.

Shaikh Mohammad Afzal, Riyadh published 6 May 2005

Targeting OFWs

Is it true, as we learned from the report “Riyadh OFWs Seek New Tax Policy at NAIA” (May 3), that the Philippine government might be trying to take back the benefits it has accorded Filipinos working overseas?

What happened now to the tax evasion case of Lucio Tan? Why run after us OFWs who are just ordinary workers and have suffered a lot of pain, forced as we are to stay away from our family just to be able to support our children, provide them with decent shelter and education? Stop graft and corruption and be productive in terms of output. Stop wasting the nation’s limited resources and eliminate red tapes. That is what we need for our country to survive. Killing the geese that lay golden eggs is not the solution.

Gregorio de la Cruz, Jeddah published 6 May 2005