‘Let’s not get choked up on light bulbs’

This is in response to Daniel Greenberg’s letter “”30 percent fewer lightbulbs in Gaza”” (2/1).

First of all, Israel supplies Gaza with electricity and fuel because it illegally occupies the land (since 1967) in which the facilities to generate power lie. Israel owes the Palestinians (not only in Gaza) the electricity and fuel, but that land as well. Palestinians are more than capable of supporting themselves when having the ability to do so.

Let’s not get choked up on light bulbs here: This is a deep conflict tracing back to the late 1800s. Palestinians made their mistakes, but ultimately their land and identity was taken from them. Naturally, there is going to be a resistance to this occupation, and Hamas is just the latest. While Hamas is a terrorist organization, so was the IRA. Israel knows that if it truly wants peace they will do what the British did with the IRA and open talks with them to sort out a serious resolution.

Instead, the Israeli government still likes to exaggerate security threats, continue the occupation, refuse refugees return and punish the entire population for the actions of a crazed few.

Collective punishment does not work, and Israel is smart enough to know what really needs to be done if it truly wants peace via restoring Palestinian human rights.

Kareem F. Hassounah
UA alumnus

‘On The Spot’ ‘totally of low taste’

I am writing in reference to “”On The Spot”” (“”Food for thought”” 2/1). I found it totally of low taste if not disgusting! Where in the world did Andi Berlin get the recent report that women in China had been forced to cut off their clitorises? Has she verified it at all? Oh, where are the WMDs in Iraq? It is disgustingly unprofessional. Such eye-catching but often false reports reflect the moral high ground the Western world tends to take, which is just disturbing. On the other hand, I found the responses from the interviewee to be respectable. Her based-on fact type of responses make Ms. Berlin look like a fool.

A few years back and shortly after this “”On The Spot”” column appeared in Arizona Daily Wildcat, there was the call for its removal, exactly because of its low taste and pointlessness. Can we make better use of the limited space in the newspaper? One may argue that it is meant to be humorous with some spontaneous and therefore often silly response from the student being interviewed. Is it really that low a level our college students would like to go? I strongly suggest that this meaningless thing be removed. If it stays, at least make sure no false information is given out.

Zhiping Zheng
associate professor
department of chemistry