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Bruins for Israel deserves support

As a Muslim, I am disturbed by the criticism directed at Bruins for Israel for playing a video on Bruin Walk that shows children being taught to be violent toward Israelis.

The propaganda that runs daily on official Palestinian Authority television is provocative, anti-Semitic and encourages children to become suicide bombers. Any reasonable person can see this from Palestinian textbooks, newspapers (such as the official Palestinian newspaper al-Hayat al-Jadidah) and television.

If we want peace in the Middle East, all Muslims must recognize the horrific nature of hateful Palestinian media and unite against it. The BFI table on Bruin Walk is fostering peace by countering hate.

Ismail Migrabi Third-year, Middle East studies

Activity Center has long history

I think the Daily Bruin might have missed the point of the inauguration of the Students Activities Center in the article “Activities Center opens its doors” (Jan. 28). The article focused tremendously on the notion that SAC centralizes resources for students into one location, yet the goal that students and campus members were trying to assert was only alluded to at the end of the article: “SPARC was re-submitted and passed in 2000 with the help of both graduate and undergraduate students.”

The successful passage of the Student Programs Activities Resource Complex (SPARC) Referendum in 2000 demonstrated the tireless efforts and activism of many students over an extended period of time. The SPARC referendum was first proposed in 1999 by the administration. It was widely rejected by students for several reasons, including timing, specifics of the referendum, and the lack of an active student voice in developing the proposal.

In 2000 the SPARC Referendum passed, due to the concerted effort by strong groups of students – not individuals – who asserted to the administration that students must come first and not last in the process. Holes, peeling paint, and cracked walls were part of the old Men’s Gym (now SAC), yet amid the celebration over renovations the Daily Bruin forgot to focus on the historical student struggle to create change and ensure our student voice is part of the process.

Fabian Renteria Fifth year, history and Chicana/o studies

Right from wrong not left from right

In response to Antonio Raimundo’s column, “Court must ban barbaric practice of executing minors” (Jan. 28), I would like to point out a misleading statement in his column. By posing the reader with the question, “Is there some magic age when a child becomes an adult, with the capability of understanding the charges against him or her?” Raimundo disguises the issue under polished rhetoric.

The fact is, our rights as citizens are determined on a lowest common denominator basis. While some 17-year-olds read The Wall Street Journal and are clued into government, the majority of them don’t and aren’t, and hence we hold that all 17-year-olds cannot sway elections or hold a rifle in combat. On the other hand, the majority of states have decided that 16- to 17-year-olds are capable of handling their lives and others’ on national roads.

Yes, we can determine “some magic age” when it comes to this same age-group committing capital crimes. Unlike political knowledge, the value of human life does not materialize in the minds of young adults by experience. The mere fact that a few 17-year-old Einsteins might know the difference between Democrats and Republicans yet still falls short of being treated as adults does not negate the fact that even those at the lowest end of the 16-year-old spectrum inherently know the difference between right and wrong.

Nicholas Louw Third-year, mathematics and economics

Editorial provides education for peace

I just wanted to commend the Daily Bruin staff for the editorial “Students should get educated about Islam” (Jan. 26). I think it’s so important that students are sincerely open minded because there is so much to learn about each other. And the only way to be at peace with each other is to not be scared and to learn about each other. So good work, keep it up.

Khadeeja Abdullah Second-year, undeclared