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The Daily Illini Online
published Friday, September 14, 2001
In Response to Thursday's column by Jeanine Ibrahim, I would like to express my opinion that I am horrified that anyone would even begin to rationalize the celebration of this week's tragic events. Now more than ever we must realize that Israel has been dealing with such terrorist attacks by fanatical suicide bombers routinely.
Ibrahim writes of her family members forced to hide because in certain areas of Israel mortar and shelling attacks have come from Palestinian-controlled territories. These attacks are usually from civilian areas to make it difficult for Israeli forces to retaliate without injuring civilians.
Israel is working hard to fight terrorism and eliminate those responsible for the violence while keeping collateral damage to a minimum. The United States must work with Israel and its other allies in the war against terrorism. While some might claim that our alliance with Israel is what brought us in this mess in the first place, they fail to see that Osama bin Laden hates America for its military presence in Saudi Arabia, its participation in the Gulf War and its alliance with Israel.
Unfortunately, stopping terror is not easy because Arab terrorists, warped by a corrupted and politicized Islam which promises paradise to "martyrs," are so bent on killing Americans and Jews that they are willing to lay down their lives for their cause.
We must remember that most Arabs and Muslims living in the United States are not terrorists and don't support terrorism. But right now all evidence in this week's attacks on America seems to be pointing to Middle Eastern Arab terrorist cells — connecting with Osama bin Ladin and other Middle Eastern terrorist organizations which have a history of targeting Americans. America must stand tall and tough to ensure that never again will so many innocent civilians perish in the face of terror.
Michael Frazin
junior in engineering