I found Thursday’s “Time to exit Saudi Arabia” editorial by the Daily editorial board disheartening. This is one of many editorials concerning the Arab plight that show a consistent and extreme bias. I venture to say that the new policy of giving female soldiers the choice of wearing abayas outside military bases (although strongly recommended) will not change the behavior of the masses that currently do wear them. Very few female soldiers would dare to walk outside their base without wearing an abaya due to scorn from Arabs who show little tolerance for opposing viewpoints such as the more liberal Western culture.

I am similarly amused by the suggestion that an exit from Saudi Arabia would help to eliminate the hostile feelings of Muslim fundamentalists aimed at the United States. These fundamentalists strongly oppose a Western culture that they perceive to be immoral and imperialist. In keeping with the Daily’s rationale of appeasing terrorists, perhaps we should trash our economies, wear abayas and start praying to Allah.

I’m upset by the biases this board continually expresses in matters relating to Arab issues. Though it realizes that men such as bin Laden and Arafat are terrorists, it tries to justify their actions and suggest that we should give into their wishes to further the peace process, a highly dangerous and irresponsible position to take. So how can an editorial board in Iowa could come up with such a radical point of view? It turns out that Omar Tesdell, a member of the editorial board, discloses on his personal Web site that he’s an activist of Palestinian-American descent. It is my opinion that when it comes to the Daily editorials concerning Arab issues, Tesdell is given free reign to wage his personal vendettas.

As I have uncovered Tesdell’s source of bias, I will disclose that I am a Jewish-American having served as a U.S. Marine and now finishing up my studies at Iowa State. I have no qualms with the Muslim faith as a whole, only with those who choose to terrorize innocent victims of such catastrophes as those in New York and others. I, too, seek peace and justice in this world. The distinction between he and I is that I feel terrorists should be accountable for their actions, unlike our “peace-loving” journalist who can justify the actions of terrorists perhaps due to their shared ancestry. In closing, I am shocked by how biased the viewpoints of the editorial board have been considering they claim to be journalists, whose main objective is to show the truth. Either way, at least the public is now aware of the reasoning behind the Daily’s left-field viewpoints on Western/Arab Politics.

David Goldstick

Senior

MIS