The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Opinion Board

When it comes to the different topics that universities should address, there aren't many issues that are more important - or relevant - than terrorism.

Unfortunately, the shrill voices of political extremism and political correctness too often plague our national discourse on the issue. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the current shouting match between David Horowitz and Co. and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Their ugly battle focuses on Horowitz's nation-wide Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week being held by local student Republican groups on college campuses across the country, including Penn's.

So when we found out that Islam Awareness Week - sponsored by Penn's Muslim Student Association - was scheduled for the same week, we braced ourselves for the worst.

Surprisingly, the worst didn't happen.

Instead of setting themselves on a collision course, both groups met and worked out a compromise. While the College Republicans decided to change the week's name to address concerns about cultural sensitivity, Penn's MSA agreed to issue a statement joining the Republicans in condemning Islamic terrorism. Each group also refused to sponsor any protests that would disrupt the other group's events.

In short, these two student organizations have shown that they value informative analysis and reasonable discussion over cheap political shots and heated rhetoric.

Their actions have set an example for politicians, like Rick Santorum, who will speak today on campus as part of the newly named Terrorism Awareness Week.

After all, it's high time national organizations on both sides of the political spectrum started treating terrorism like a serious issue, instead of just another opportunity to play politics.

If college students can do it, there's no reason why our national leaders can't.

Comments (4)

Islamic Fascism declared war against the U.S. and all non-Islamic nations. The truth is the truth. Why would any free human what to suppress this? http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl

Islamo-fascism is not the same as terrorism. Shame on those students for caving on this point: it is a distortion of the facts. The point of the week�? whatever its called�? is to raise awareness of oppressive Islamist governments that have kings, princes, and supreme leaders instead of democracies. This has nothing to do with terrorism. I don't think many Westerners would support Osama bin Laden's plan for the middle east even if he acheived it without terrorism. The point is that Islamist governments limit individual rights and have totalitarian leaders, making the comparison of 20th century fascist states totally appropriate. I'm not going to say that, because they changed the name, the totalitarians have won: but if special interest groups can bully us from using truthful language, haven't we lost some of our freedom?

The only "cheap political shots and heated rhetoric" you've cited is the use of the politically-loaded term "islamofascism." Duly noted. But in the future, please provide specific examples of "cheap political shots and heated rhetoric" from the other side and let your readers decide for themselves. This was a problem in your article yesterday, when your reporter mentioned that a protester was arrested at the Pipes event without saying exactly what he or she was arrested for. We would like to know. With our country riven with conflict over how to proceed in the Global War on Terror, we need the facts. We need reporting that will sort through the prevailing "he said, she said" rhetoric and take a stand on the issues. "[I]nformative analysis and reasonable discussion" are not ends in and of themselves. We want and need conclusions. We have given up on the current crop of cynical, craven beltway sycophants that pass as Serious Reporters. They are dead to us. But all is not lost for your generation. As the future members of the Fourth Estate, you have the honor, and responsibility, to speak truth to power, and to help us better understand the world we live in. Now would be the time to take a journalism class.

...the College Republicans decided to change the week's name to address concerns about cultural sensitivity... There wasn't much cultural sensitivity on 9/11...

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