TO THE EDITOR:
Thursday’s headline “Imam: Islam is not America’s Enemy” surprised those who still considered the DTH an intelligent university paper. To only use the term Imam followed by no name is absurd. If a pastor comes to UNC, we doubt the DTH would write, “Pastor: Christianity is not the Middle East’s enemy.” There are many pastors and many imams. Therefore, it would have been better to write Imam Feisal Rauf to acknowledge the diversity of voices representing a community.
But the worst comes after the colons. The DTH headline makes a dangerous assumption and propagates a message that is insulting to this community, non-Muslim and Muslim alike. We know it is intended to be a quote, but it is taken out of context and misused. The DTH insinuates that Islam is inherently considered America’s enemy, but Imam Feisal Rauf came to disprove this assumption. Writing “Imam Rauf: N.Y. Muslim community center is not anti-American” could have better addressed the issue, yet even this is only a step above the sewer, as his message focused on interfaith collaboration.
Going beyond the article headline, the Weil lecture was completely sponsored through private funding. We understand the economic situation makes funding speaker fees for prominent figures challenging. Students do not want their money wasted, especially not now — on extra lab supplies, greener grass or SBP elections. Yet, if Rep. Tom Tancredo, Karl Rove and Mosab Yusuf (Son of Hamas event) can be paid with university funding sources, what makes this lecture any different?
Laurence Deschamps-Laporte
Senior
Global Studies
Nida Waheed
Senior
