We write to express our outrage at the racist ads run by the One Truth Foundation. We are dismayed at the continuing violence in the Middle East and strongly feel that the suicide bombers and the Israeli Occupying Forces are both guilty of crimes against humanity and need to be treated alike. To blame it all on the Palestinians is therefore a complete distortion of reality.

We view this ad campaign not as an isolated incident, but as part of an organized attempt to dehumanize and humiliate Palestinians. That the Occupation of Palestinian territories is the root cause of the conflict (and has nothing at all to do with defending Israel) has been recognized by among others, some reserve combat officers in the Israeli Defense Forces who have declared: "We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people. We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defense. The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose and we shall take no part in them."

The mainstream media here has only been too willing to prey on the Palestinians, be it for the suicide bombings committed by a minuscule fraction of them or for celebrations (again by a minuscule fraction of them) of such barbaric attacks. Israelis as a whole are not blamed (thankfully!) for being ruled by the murderous Ariel Sharon, are they? Nor are white Americans as a whole held accountable for the actions of the white supremacist World Church of the Creator, which hailed the WTC attacks as "Wonderful News, Brothers!" [Daniel Levitas, The Radical Right After 9/11, The Nation, July 22-29]. We need to understand that any sufficiently large group could have some lunatics. And stereotyping the group, for personal or political goals, on the basis of this lunatic fringe deserves unequivocal condemnation.

DI's editorial apologies notwithstanding, we feel that publishing such ads is no way to "educate, enliven and inform the U of I community." To try humiliate someone and then rationalize this on the pretext of trying to create a free discussion is but a farce. We hope the DI will think twice before indulging in such misadventures in future.

In solidarity against racial/ethnic stereotyping,
South Asian Collective