Letters to the Editor [Archives:2002/32/Letters to the Editor]

Hamas is to blame
Your front page comment about the unintelligence of the Israeli government, and its killing of Shehade, was right on. The Israelis have indeed created more Shehades with their action.
However, Hamas has hurt itself in a far more debilitating way. Rather than taking on the issue of the Shehade killings in a political way, taking advantage of that World opinion, Hamas bombed Hebrew University, a reported mixing bowl of nationalities, religions and races. In its action, the Israelis have tried to convince the World that their attack was justified with the targeting of a terrorist. Hamas attacked non-combatants, and only non-combatants. There was no strategic target.
So the negative opinion that was generated by the semi-terrorist Israeli action is undone by the wholly terrorist action of Hamas. The World sentiment against the Palestinian cause is galvanized into further revulsion against not only Hamas, but the Arab world in general.
So, for this weeks front page, print the same statement. But remove the word Israeli in every place where it was used, and replace it with Hamas. In many ways, they are one and the same.
Don Barrick
[email protected]
Money and marriage
A few weeks ago I sent a letter to Yemen Times newspaper under the title Piety in appearance and evilness in mystery. I had gladly expected it to be published in any of the paper issues, but unfortunately nothing appeared.
I pondered that my letter might be unaccepted or rather unsuitable for publishing because it might have had some painful content regarding women like the one whom I mentioned. But I still dont think that because of that, the letter should be prevented from being published. As you know, as much as there are corrupt elements in our public sectors and government administrations, there are the same in our private and social affairs of life. The story in that letter is a kind of corrupt phenomenon newly appearing among our society.
The main motives of this phenomenon were the millions of rials which the people came to known after unification particularly in eastern governorates. In the past, marriage was only used to preserve a couple from deviation into illegal practices and to protect religious reputation. But in recent times, it has become a business of its own. The one with more money is the one who is to be loved. The more you give, the more you are beloved until you run out of money, only then will people run out of love for you. There is neither love nor respect for religion. This applies to both men and women. No matter how old you are, if you have money, you are guaranteed a partner in life. A man of eighty years can easily marry or buy- a girl (virgin) of 15 years old. And vise versa, a rich old woman of sixty or seventy can marry or buy- a man of twenty or thirty years. Gender is no problem if money is present. But here in Yemen, women are most likely to be the ones who adhered most to this rule by demanding a rich man.
Therefore, I hope that once this letter arrives, you would ultimately have published. Thanking you for your concern.
Abdulmajid Ahmed Bin Ali Jabir
Mukalla
Dear reader,
We have not published your letter because it was too personal, long and detailed. We do want to publish letters that reflect problems in the Yemeni community but we need general ideas and themes, not private stories. However, please accept our apologies in the form of publishing this letter of yours, which is quite self-explanatory.
Editor

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