Show sympathy Saturday against Miami
I’ve looked forward to the Miami football team coming to town since the day they joined the ACC. This season, they’ve more than lived up to their negative image, between off-field incidents and that ugly brawl against Florida International, not to mention dropping from the top 25 polls for the first time in forever. I was more than ready to let “The U” have it this Saturday. Now one of their players is dead. Few details of the incident are available, but Bryan Pata surely did not deserve to die. I cannot begin to imagine the pain this is causing his teammates and coaches.
As student fans, we have a reputation for making bad decisions. Let’s take this chance to do something right. Don’t boo the Hurricanes as they run onto the field Saturday afternoon. I even encourage you to applaud their strength – I will be. Let’s not shower them with “Rock & Roll, Pt. 2.” I’m generally a fan of the practice, but there’s no need for that right now. Boo bad calls, personal fouls or other game-related happenings. Home-field advantage is crucial in college football, and by no means should we forfeit that. All I’m saying is we can give our Terps tremendous crowd support while maintaining compassion and respect for a Miami team that needs it right now. Let’s be human.
Ed RobertsSeniorHistory
Actions do not represent Israeli supporters
I was disappointed to read Derron Thweatt’s letter to the editor in the Nov. 9 Diamondback. It is unfortunate if students were indeed rude and made racist statements to the International Socialist Organization members, and I want to make it clear that such actions do not represent the overwhelming majority of Israel supporters on the campus. While I’m saddened that debate on such an important issue had been reduced to that level, I more importantly wanted to clarify the misleading assertions Thweatt made in his letter regarding the disputed territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel completed its disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 and has since been struggling to combat the indiscriminate barrage of rockets emanating from Gaza that have rained on Israeli cities. The West Bank has been under the autonomous control of the Palestinian Authority since the Oslo Accords of 1993, whereby 98 percent of the Palestinian population in these territories lives under the PA’s authority. Israel’s need to maintain any military presence in either region is based solely on the refusal of Palestinians to end their campaign of terror against Israel. To say that you only “disagree” with the tactic of suicide bombings against Israel, but “whole-heartedly disagree” with U.S. backing of Israel, implies you part-heartedly agree with the former, and I find that most troubling. How dare you take the moral high ground and lecture others about being able to sleep at night for supporting the right of Israelis to live safely and securely in the historic national homeland of the Jewish people.
Simon BlekhmanSeniorEconomics and financePresidentTerrapin Israel Public Affairs Committee
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