I love Tuesdays. This Tuesday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, students were walking around and once again Sufia Khalid’s hummus went a little sour (“Time to break out of your comfort zones, people,” March 21, p.7).
In her latest fanatical quest for an illogical and inconceivable utopia, Ms. Khalid again isolates herself from the community by pulling out her hijab-card and unfairly criticizes her American friends for their supposed closed-mindedness.
Usually I have patience for such inaccuracies, but when I get offended, I’ll properly and respectfully respond via a letter to the editor. Hey, it’s got to be better than blowing up a Saudi embassy if I’m upset, right?
Ms. Khalid’s column yesterday was titled, “Time to break out of your comfort zones, people.” Before we even look at Ms. Khalid’s spin on things, let’s think back to another Tuesday that broke everyone’s comfort zones.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, people were off to work and school for what was supposed to be a normal day. The school year had just resumed and the Yankees and Red Sox pennant race was really heating up.
Everything was comfortable.
At 8:46 a.m., an American Airlines jet smashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Ten minutes later, on every television station in the nation, a United Airlines Flight slammed into the South Tower.
Nineteen terrorists, 15 of them from your homeland of Saudi Arabia, Ms. Khalid, changed our lives forever.
3,000 lives, two American landmarks and America’s comfort zone vilified.
Any American — white, black, Jew, Muslim, Asian, Christian, Eagles fan or Cowboys fan — now has to fear terrorism when he/she goes to the airport, supermarket, movie theater, ballgame or high-rise office building. Don’t lecture me about breaking my comfort zone, Ms. Khalid.
Enough said.
Ms. Khalid, forgetting about that Tuesday of infamy, then goes on to explain that Americans “would never even dream of visiting an Arab country.”
Well, yeah! I would never give a dime of my money to help finance a nation that sends terrorists to blow up my soil. Forget about the fact that Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Arab nations desecrate American flags, burn rubber tires, destroy embassies and kidnap foreign tourists. But I’m sure the beaches in Yemen are great this time of year.
Ms. Khalid continues to say that many people don’t mind visiting Israel, which she also implies is not a safe place. Well, if it weren’t for Hamas, it would be safe, but that’s another letter for another time.
I’ve been privileged to visit England, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Israel and Jordan. Yes, Ms. Khalid, I have visited an Arab country — one that has made peace with Israel and America.
I think I can speak for all Americans when I say I want to spend a vacation with no worries, no stress, no tension and no fear. Well, I want that after I get through airport security
A pure, white, American Jew walking through the streets of Riyadh or Damascus? Let me borrow your, hijab, please.
I’ll feel better when I get home to Newark, NJ.
Jonah P. Kaplan COM ’08
The writer is a former columnist for The Daily Free Press.