IP: \Response to first WSJ Excerpt

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 08:24:49 -0500
> From: John Lyon <jelyon () jelyon com>
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> Subject: Response to WSJ Excerpt
>
> Prof. Farber - you may find this an appropriate follow up.
>
> Reaction to Yesterday's Attacks
>
> I mentioned to co-workers yesterday that people from the Middle East 
> living in the US, especially those in New York, were in the wrong place. 
> Not a judgement, but a statement of fact. I don't think all of them 
> understood.
>
> I don't expect people to have no feelings or thoughts when encountering 
> Muslims or Arabs living in the US in the days, weeks, months ahead. I do 
> expect my fellow citizens to have the wisdom NOT to act on those feelings. 
> It is my hope that, in time, Americans will not have visceral reactions to 
> those who are different - in any way.
>
> Doubtless there were humans of every race, creed, belief killed in 
> yesterday's attack. Let's not diminish their family's pain and grief by 
> our small mindedness.
>
> > From the democrats.com newsletter:
>
> Anti-Muslim Spin Will Serve No Purpose But to Perpetuate Hatred and Violence
>
> Today, a few news outlets seized on footage of one section of a 
> Palestinian town where clusters of Arabs appeared to be cheering and 
> celebrating the American catastrophe. FOX was the worst - it showed the 
> same footage over and over in a loop, which gave the impression of a far 
> more extensive event - unless you watched carefully enough to notice that 
> the same 20 or so Palestinians, most of them grade-schoolers, were being 
> shown over and over. Even if there was an outburst of outrageous, hateful 
> behavior on the part of some Palestinians, to blow this out of proportion 
> will only fuel hatred and violence, and inspire racist attacks against 
> innocent Muslims. It certainly will not help solve this crime or help 
> those suffering in the wake of the tragedy. We applaud the majority of 
> news networks who avoided this destructive, even dangerous form of yellow 
> journalism.
>
> ___________________________________________________
> "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin, ~1784 
> </blockquote></x-html>



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