Letters to the Editor [Archives:2001/07/Letters to the Editor]

Dear Editor,
I would like to inform you that I have been one of the main, active readers for years beyond comparison of the 1st placed English language newspaper in Yemen since the founder Prof. Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf issued the first editions.
For myself, the majority of the Yemeni English language newspapers readers could not forget a single word of founder Prof. Abdulaziz’ words of wisdom.
But among us who work with foreign donor agencies in the remote, rural areas a question has to be raised. Why did YT stipulate in its green advertisement leaflet, in the small free-form scripts advertisement, a deadline one week or less for these to be sent to you?
Dear Sir, For we receive Yemen times late! and are unable to send these forms in due time.. so please be kind enough to reconsider this dead line and make it more flexible?
So that we could witness yet more wisdom from the son of the founder “an exceptional condition” to accept scripts at a later date for people who live in rural areas. I am on leave in Aden and found the chance to send my scripts to you. But my work is in Shabwa Basic Dev Proj. about 400 km from Aden.
Al-Fadhli Abdulla Salem

Dear Editor,
I have read your article which was titled “That is Who We Are!” and I honestly and totally agree with you. We are not going to hide our mistakes from others just to seem nice in their eyes and when they come here they get shocked by unexpected things. Moreover, how can we tell them “later” that the things had really changed and encourage them to see the differences when they are seeing the same style of reports either today or ten years before. If we are ashamed of our actions, then we have to find someway to prevent them.
It is obvious that your newspaper has credibility because it always says the truth no matter how bad it is. If you chose to post the positive news only in your newspaper, then you might not get the trust and the popularity that you have now among a huge number of readers. I really don’t think that we need the good impressions as much as we need the right ones.
My best regards to you and to all the journalists in your newspaper and I wish you all good luck.
AL-Mufadhal
[email protected]

Dear Editor,
I am very saddened after reading your article about the Jew Azar Ibraham not being able to run for office. As a Jew of Yemeni origin, I would like to see Yemen rise to the occasion, let him run, and show the world there is no discrimination against Jews-“the people of the book”.
Yisrael M. Safeek,
[email protected]
MD, USA
Dear Editor,
I am a pilot living in the U.S. now and was shocked to hear about the unprecedented hijacking of Yemenia. I would like to extend my best wishes and regards to my colleagues Cap. Anees Amer and First Officer Rosa Abdulkhalek and the rest of the crew for their bravery and the Captain’s intelligent way and wisdom in dealing with the hijacker. In the end I wish Yemenia success and prosperity,
Malek Mohamed Seif
[email protected]

Dear Editor,
I am writing you this letter to inform you that as a Yemeni citizen here in the US, I am not happy with the relationships between the Arab world.
For nearly 4 centuries the Arab world has been violated by America and its allies. I feel sorry for the families of the sailors who died aboard the Cole but such things happen.
The bombing was the only way to tell America to stay off our land. Yemen is a nation that is fed up with America. The Arab nations should come together and show our foes (America, Israel) that we are not scared and that we will fight back. America gives its taxes in dollars to Israel, which was used to buy weapons to kill the children, women, and men of Palestine. The Cole attack took less then 20 lives while America helped Israel take more then 500 lives. The Americans have violated Iraq, Yemen, Saudi, and Palestine in the past. Instead of running away from these attacks lets work together and attack back.
Ghassan Amin Alsaidi
USA

Dear Editor,
Beyond our surprise at the piece of news in the article titled “Shiat.. Establishes Center in Nihm” issue#51 of last December 2000, we still believe that Yemen Times is almost the best medium to investigate and publish such a sensitive and complicated issue as the one in focus. Therefore, we would like to clarify some points which had been mentioned or implied in the referred article.
1- The legal permission for the center is under my direct personal responsibility and nobody should assume otherwise.
2- The previous residence building was not owned by Alkawther Center nor is the present, which is in the center of the capital city of Sana’a.
3- The center has not been shut down (per say), but in fact it has relocated to the present location, due to new circumstances, in which we still enjoy relative activities, and, as worth mentioning, had celebrated significant religious occasions side by side with the scientific and social seminars organized, in particular in the holy month of Ramadan. Some of which were: birthday of Imam Al-Hassan (AS), victory of the battle of Badr, martyrdom of Imam Ali (AS), a one-day seminar on “Computer and Internet for All,” and among others a special gathering intended to help the Palestinian cause in the “day of AlQuds”. There is no need to mention that the invitation was for the general public.
4-As to the person who was blocked from entering the country, he had not acquired the necessary visa for entrance because his Indian passport required an advance visa.
5-The other person who was detained had been found guilty of violating and penetrating the limits of the airport boundary. As soon as I knew his situation, I bailed him out, explaining to the people in charge his honest intentions, as a humanitarian helper though he wasn’t employed by the center.
6-Finally, it must be clear that we never try to prevent any people’s activities or even to have any objection whatsoever toward others conducting similar activities, knowing that no one is allowed to use our name (The Cultural and Islamic Center of Alkawther) in his/her program of activities.
Before rolling these words, I should point to both the importance and sensitivity of such matters. At the same time, we in the center invite all people from all regions and all backgrounds to give themselves the opportunity to see and understand, not only the tangible activities and achievements, which had been proved in the previous time by this center and it’s volunteers, but also to experience and sense the basis of such contributions as the ones committed by the center and also to understand the cause that we have volunteered for.
Abdulkhaliq Almadani
Cultural and Islamic Alkawther Center

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