Page One

Thank you Berkeley for taking a stand

Johanna Habib
Monday November 12, 2001

The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to the Berkeley City Council: 

I thank Berkeley for recognizing that the bombing of Afghanistan is wrong. 

I write as a New Yorker, an Arab-American and as someone who believes that the United States needs to seriously reconsider their strategy in this “war.” 

War will not end terrorism, but will continue generations of hatred that will only serve to propagate further acts of hatred. While we heal gradually from our loss of 6,000 lives, we must appreciate that retaliation will not mend our hearts nor will it render justice. Those that are our enemies will not be contained by country lines – they will only be contained by the deflation of their gripes. We need to listen and we need to act proactively. 

Securing a future free of terrorist attacks with every missle we drop is a delusion. 

I realize that you do will have critics, so it is all the more reason for you to know that your resolution is widely supported. So let me thank Berkeley for speaking up for what many of us feel and for what is dangerously difficult to say as debate on this issue is fading. 

 

Johanna Habib  

San Carlos