Letters to the Editor

A misleading comparison

To the Editor:

In Elizabeth Rossi's article on the war-related experiences of international students for which I was interviewed ("International students share war experiences abroad," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 3/28/03) Hadassa Sigel's account of living with the fear of suicide bombings is related to my account of living with the fear of the Iraqi army during the seven months it occupied Kuwait. While the fear of deadly violence does provide grounds for comparison, I believe it's misleading to juxtapose the Israeli experience to an experience of being occupied, especially when the Palestinian experience of living under Israeli occupation for the last 35 years is completely left out.

No Israeli is vulnerable to a power structure which allows Palestinian soldiers to invade freely every space Israelis inhabit and collectively destroy Israeli society. It is the Palestinians, not the Israelis, who have had their homes demolished to make way for settlements for Russian Jews, Jewish-only bypass roads connecting the Occupied Territories to Israel and Israeli army posts.

It is the Palestinians who, for protesting occupation, have been shot, bombed, shelled, killed, maimed, permanently disabled, beaten, hauled off to prison and tortured by the thousands. It is the Palestinians who have waited at the whim of Israeli soldiers to be allowed past checkpoints to visit relatives, go to work, go to school or get urgent medical attention, to even be allowed outside their homes. It is the Palestinians around whom a "security" wall is being built right now, a wall which, instead of following the green line which marks the borders of the land free of Israeli occupation before 1967, annexes to Israel more huge swaths of Palestinian farmland and breaks up Palestinian villages.

Even after surviving seven months of Iraqi occupation, I can't say that my experience is comparable to what the Palestinians have borne for the last 35 years and continue to bear today.

Khalid Hadeed College '04

Don't squeeze the locals

To the Editor:

I am an artist promoter, meaning I help secure concert, television, radio and personal appearance exposure for my roster of artists. To that end, for the past several weeks I have been trying to contact the Social Planning and Events Committee and SPEC-TRUM to inquire about their upcoming events for the spring. However, after repeated e-mails, a handful of phone calls and even a visit to the office, I am left dissatisfied. None of my correspondence was returned, and upon my visit to the office, I was told that there was no information on upcoming events outside of Spring Fling, which was booked. This may or may not have been true, but the tone of voice used by the young woman I spoke with was one of disrespect.

Several of my colleagues have experienced similar slights from SPEC and SPEC-TRUM, and although it has no bearing on the talent level of my roster, I assumed my alumni status would grant me more access than non-Penn affiliates. Perhaps SPEC has a policy of not working with outside promoters. This is a policy other colleges have and one I respect. However, a simple e-mail or Web site disclaimer explaining so would have saved me weeks of frustration.

I write this letter not because I am upset -- my artists have already been booked for other concerts this spring and summer -- but as a word of advice to those planning to assume leadership roles in SPEC and SPEC-TRUM next semester. A sentiment I have learned, echoed by my senior colleagues, is that the entertainment business is 20 percent talent and 80 percent contacts.

It would be doing yourself and the student body a disservice to slight local promoters and managers. You will never know what they have to offer unless you inquire. Network now; build your favor bank. You will be remembered for it.

Giovanni Turner Law '02

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