Letters to the Editor [Archives:2000/37/Letters to the Editor]

DEAR EDITOR,
I would like to start by saying that I had the distinct honor of staying in your country this past year. During my stay, I found the culture and history of Yemen to be rich. I also found the Yemen people to be proud, strong, and a people I would gladly spends a lifetime getting to know. Prior to my stay in Yemen, I had studied Middle East, I was exposed to a people and culture that I had never had exposure to before my college classes. Even with this knowledge, nothing would have compared to my time in your beautiful country. I found many things that I had studied about in your country and so mush more. Prior to my departure from your country, I had to say good-bye to my Yemeni friends but I was glad to know that one say I would be back, inshaallah. This is a promise I made to my friends and to myself.
Upon my return to the United States, I had the unfortunate experience of seeing Rules of Engagement. I had no prior knowledge about the plot of the movie, but to my dismay, once I saw the movie I saw a horrific depiction of Arabs and in particular the Yemeni people. As I watched each frame, I realized something about the American Public that I had already known somewhat prior to my stay in Yemen. The American public is very uneducated about the Middle East. Many people ask where is Yemen or is that really a place or are you kidding me? Then, the only exposure they have to Yemen and the Yemeni people is a bad depiction of Yemenis in movies. The people I saw in the movie and the place I saw was not the beautiful lands and extremely friendly people of Yemen I knew. It was very obvious in watching the movie that whoever directed, wrote and produce the movie had never seen Yemen and had never had the experience I had in Yemen. I am sure it was just an other attempt by Hollywood to portray a war against an imaginary enemy. In seeing it, I was ashamed of my own country that has such access to education for making such an ill-informed movie about Yemen and the Arab world.
Please remember my Yemeni friends that not all Americans view Arabs, particularly Yemenis, in this way. As I have returned to the US.. I have been proud to tell other Americans about my 9 month experience in Yemen. The times of laughter and chewing qat at the weekends, the times of great feast of rich food during al-Fitr, the enriching conversation with Yemenis who speak both Arabic and English and the even more enriching and empowering discussions I had with my Yemeni friends in my attempt to learn a language that I now find so dear to my heart. I say proudly to any Westerner that I am a friend of the Yemeni people and I am that mush better for having lived, laughed, cried, ate, and chewed with a people I now consider my second family.
Be proud Yemeni friends for who you are and what you have accomplished in your thousands of years of rich history. Be proud to be the type of people who will be friends to all those who want to be friends. Be proud to be a country and people who are developing into a powerful nation that still holds to its rich culture and religious roots. I will always hold you and your people, your history and your culture in my heart as if it were mine. For the Yemeni people are not my enemy, they are My Family.
Kevin E. Grisham
[email protected]
California, USA

DEAR MR. GRISHAM,
THE Yemen Times thanks you on behalf of all Yemenis for your love and respect for Yemen and wishes you a good time among your family and friends in the US.

The Role of News paper
Newspapers are communicative devices between people all over the world whether they are published in English or in Arabic.
They had played an important, effective and influential role in the past. They motivated people to resist colonization. They made the people aware of all the wrong actions of these colonizers. They made them come together and join their hands to rebel and make their lands free. Newspapers have become an essential part of our life.
They give us the latest news of our country and the outside world. They keep the people acquainted with whatever happens in the society, the good as well as the bad things. By this they are given the chance to judge whether their leaders are corrupt or not. Newspapers give them the chance to build their future.
In Yemen there are many newspapers, the majority of them being published in Arabic while a few in English. These Arabic newspapers, more often than not, belong to some political parties which monopolize them to spread their ideologies to have more support and to make the people support whatever is done by the ruling party.
There are, of course, some independent newspapers which neither belong to the opposition nor to the government. They publish things without favor or fear. One such newspaper is Yemen Times which was founded by the late Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf. Yemen Times has actually played a substantial role in our prosperity. It has created a bridge of contact between Yemen and the outside world. It has made the world know about Yemen and its people. It has been reflecting a good picture about Yemen which is clear through the contributions of the newspaper in promoting the tourist industry and the substantial international support Yemen has been able to get. It has also been very instrumental in organizing so many international conferences in Yemen so as to attract the worlds attention to this largely neglected land.
Moreover, Yemen Times has been performing the role of an informer in terms of giving the people immunizations from wrong information besides playing its role in exposing corruption and corrupt officials. Yemen Times is also playing an important role in indicating the social problems and trying to propose some solutions for them. Now it is playing a commendable job in regard to teaching English which is considered to be of great value to students of English. If anyone reads an issue of the newspaper, he cant wait until he reads the second issue and so on.
I do keep my fingers crossed hoping that the newspaper will go on the same course and that it will be able to fulfill the expectations of its readers.
Shafiq Abdullah Kasem
Arhab University

I feel sad
I feel sad,
I often cry,
I cant bear you be away
I love to see you
The apple of my eye.
Where you would go,
After this year,
Has been so horrible a thought
Breeding an unknown fear.
Taiz is the cradle
Of our choicest happiness.
Only its celestial beauty
Is our lifes sole business.
Sadiq Hassan M. Assamie

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