Editor’s note: the length restriction on forum letters has been waived.

Among genocide exists a call for peace

The current state of affairs between Israel and Gaza has struck terror through the hearts of those directly affected and those who watch fastidiously from the comfort of their televisions, thousands of miles away. One is not able to turn on the TV without being slammed with pictures and gory details of the agonizing pain of those who have been hurt. 

Throughout all of this, one is forced to question the humanity that is inherent in all of us. In the fight to claim the Holy Land, something that should represent peace, spirituality and human persistence, is and will always be stained with the blood of those that have been innocently killed in the fight for it.  Why is it that something like religion perpetrates a feud so strong, that it takes over all that is altruistic in human beings? 

As an Indian-American, I am more than familiar with battles over religion and claim of land. My country has been fighting for years for the claim of Kashmir, something that rightfully belongs to them, against Pakistan. Between the masked wars of land versus land, it comes down to one simple fight; Hinduism versus Islam. This however, is a political issue. It is irrelevant and unnecessary of me to confuse issues by being anti-Islam. 

Similarly, the fight between Israel and Palestine is intended as political. In simpler terms, however, this is a fight between beliefs between the underlying foundations of what drives us as individuals. This war, which continues to take place in the Middle East, forces us to take sides here in the United States. I have been seeing Facebook statuses of hate and anti-Semitic ideals for the past couple of weeks. Those wanting to protect the name of Israel are viewed upon as indifferent and cold towards the terrorism in Palestine. It brings me to wonder if supporting one or the other cause in fact drives the two cultures and religions farther apart, than to in fact come together in the support of such a terrible atrocity. 

Again, this letter isn’t about Israel or Palestine. It is about the relationships that we in the U.S. have formed between each other, despite the differences in culture and religion, which stand to be strained in the middle of the madness. The images on television of those dead from the bombs, children left to watch their parents bodies disintegrate on the roadsides, the lives of Palestinian’s shaken right, left and center, are images that illicit pain, empathy and most of all, anger. Anger from those who call this place home and from those who share in the political tensions between the ongoing turmoil. 

To a degree, it is irrelevant what this fight is about. I expect more from us as individuals, as human beings with beating hearts. In a time which calls for compassion and a bloody cry for peace, we continue to rally ideas of anti-Islam or anti-Semitism. I’m sure Palestinian-Americans have at least one person of Israeli origin that they call friend, and vice-versa. Instead of attacking the religion, attack the sordid government which continues to foster plans of future violence, while the spilled blood of the Palestinian people still has not dried from their soil. 

To say it simply, we are born to this world to accomplish a mission; a mission to be virtuous, regardless of our belief in religion, or lack thereof. It is not only an obligation that should drive us, but the cry from the universe to fight for peace during our time here. Peace between religions, peace between countries, peace between people. 

Esha Udyavar

junior, English 

News coverage of Gaza situation biased

I thought your paper’s article “Conflict hits close to home” was weak. It lacked substance regarding the actual protest and its purpose. Also, the article was biased and leaned towards the Israeli point of view. How did your paper manage to turn a protest hoping to put an end to the disproportionate killing of Gazan civilians into a pro-Israeli article?

How disrespectful to the many people that traveled as far as Rocky Mount to be heard at this protest. Some of the protesters actually have family in Gaza, such as my wife, Hanadi, and my friend, Moheeb. The least your paper could have done was include three pro-Gazan interviews within the article to balance out the three pro-Israeli. Explain to me how you found only one person to interview in a protest of nearly 1500 people, but still managed to hunt down three pro-Israelis to interview. I’ve heard of the media being controlled, but this is ridiculous. So much for the Technician being unbiased.

The least you could have done was to interview three pro-Gazans to balance the article. Would your paper have went out of their way to find three pro-Palestinians to interview if a pro-Israeli protest took place near N.C. State? Somehow, I seriously doubt the Technician would have done the opposite. And another thing, most major news sources, including CNN, state that it was in fact Israel that broke the ceasefire. So next time you state the Israeli perspective (Hamas broke the ceasefire by firing rockets), try also stating the world and victim perspective — Israel broke the ceasefire by killing Gazans and denying them their most human basic right … LIFE.

Jamaal Jameel

Alumnus, Class of 1998