Light robbed
From Mr. S. Zubairi, Dubai.
How many more fathers will the Israelis gun down? How many more heartbreaking pictures will we see at the front pages of newspapers like the one you published yesterday? When will the sanity prevail in brutal Israel?

The picture of a grieving toddler on her mother's lap brought tears to my eyes. She is too young to understand world politics. But she isn't too young to know her father will never come home. He will never again pick her up, hug her with love, play with her, bring her toys and give her a good night kiss. This little girl's entire world has darkened even before she saw the light through her father's counsel.

What difference does it make to the Israeli soldier who made the young girl's world turn into darkness?"Human rights are alien words in Israel. Stone throwing children can be countered in a more humane manner. What if the tables are turned and Palestinian soldiers shoot Israeli fathers? Will the world conscience remain dormant? We know the answer.

Calling Powell
From Mr. S. Hafeezullah, Abu Dhabi.
It's a pleasure to see the U.S. President-elect George Bush has nominated African-American Colin Powell as the Secretary of State. I hope Powell will discharge his duties in a bipartisan matter, dealing with all the trouble spots throughout the world.

Space thoughts
From Mr. C. George, Dubai.
Man has made a step ahead in astronomy. This science has more secrets than any other. Deep within the mysteries of the solar system salt-water has been found on a moon around Jupiter ("Ocean in Ganymede" Gulf News, December 18).

Two other moons have already been found to have water. Ganymede is Jupiter's largest moon and Nasa's Galileo, after five years of orbiting has reached the closest distance to reveal this feature. Will this put an end to our search for extraterrestrial life?

Open centres
From Mrs. B.T. Ali, Abu Dhabi.
I refer to your Special Report ("Innocent victims of violence" Gulf News, December 16). Many innocent women who are victims of violence can be helped by starting special centres for guidance and counselling. They can visit these centres without the knowledge of their husbands and seek legal and social advice.

Social workers should also be given protection. As a (self made) social worker, I once faced the situation when the husband told me he would report me to the police when I tried to advise his wife. If such a centre is started, I am willing to help.

Dead reckoning
From Mr. G. Anthony, Dubai.
I refer to the news item "Air India to adopt 'selective approach' in repatriating bodies" (Gulf News, December 8). This distinction on the basis of the financial capacity of the deceased is bad. It is similar to the distinction between passengers flying VIP and economy class.

When a passenger is alive, he travels first class, pays premium rates and the airline makes a profit. If he dies in the Gulf, he is found to be ineligible for free repatriation of his body. This is unfair.

Pride pricked
From Mr. S. Raj, Dubai.
The historic finding of acupuncture points on the body of a man claimed to have died 5,000 years ago in the Alps proves this traditional treatment was adopted first by Europeans (Gulf News, December 18).

The Chinese have always claimed acupuncture to have originated in 1500 BC in China. This latest finding has proved them wrong and made China lose a national asset.

Apply force
From A Reader, Dubai.
Every day I see countless people speeding along the highway happily engaged in mobile phone conversations. All of us at some time has probably been tailgated. One of the most depressing violations to see is the mother safely behind a seat belt with a small child on her lap.

As a result of these kinds of irresponsible behaviour, more fatal accidents occur every year. I am mystified at why the traffic laws are not enforced in Dubai. Surely it is easier to enforce the law than to see the terrible tragedies that not enforcing causes.
* Name withheld by request.

Vandalism
From Mr. G. Bell, Abu Dhabi.
The other day, as my wife was taking our three-year-old daughter to Al Ahlia supermarket in Khalidiyah, she was struck on the shoulder by an egg thrown from a high level apartment in an adjacent block of flats. It caused a severe bruise, but if it had hit my child on the head it could have been fatal.

This is the third time this sort of thing has happened in this area. Previously my wife was nearly hit by a plastic bag full of water and again by a glass bottle. I am reluctant to go to the police, as it is probably some unruly children "having fun". However, someone could be killed or severely injured by their antics.

The only practical thing I can think of is to ask residents to watch out for and report things like this.

Going nowhere
From Mr. A. Lababidy, Dubai.
When Etisalat launched Al Shamil I rushed to get what was described as a dream deal. I realise now it is just another commercial service that makes sense only to the provider.

My link has been up and down for two months. When it finally died on December 11, I logged a case with Etisalat help desk and was promised a quick solution. When nothing happened for two days I checked my case status on the Web and was stunned to read: "We colled the customer and we fix the problem" (sic).

I called up the help desk again and requested to speak to the manager who of course was in a meeting. I was told the engineer did call but he might have got a wrong number. I was happy to know they had helped another user with the same problem. What a coincidence.

When I finally managed to speak to the manager he said he would fix the problem on Saturday because it's the weekend! So Saturday came and went and the status on the web now is "Case closed" with the comment "Transfer to team" and of course the line is still down!

Turncoats
From Mr. P.K. Ousep, Dubai.
What if a political party is trapped from all corners? They would surely look for ways to wriggle out of the situation by blaming others. The Communist Party of India (Marxists) chose Kerala's Finance Minister Dhananjaya Kumar as scapegoat and accused him of involvement in a hooch tragedy (Gulf News, December 17).

Manichan, the prime suspect, will point a finger elsewhere knowing Kerala's ruling party backs him. Political parties are like both sides of a coin yet Manichan has only seen one side. He should keep away from false promises and tell the truth.

Marxist support
From Mr. P.K.Poduval, Dubai.
Mr. Eappen's letter titled "Snakes' alive" (Gulf News, December 14) sheds crocodile tears for the animals at Parassinikkadvu snake park. It is yet another hypocrisy by the disgraced Kerala communists.

Marxists burned birds and animals after an unruly mob of stone throwing supporters of the Democratic Youth Federation of India protesting against private professional colleges, were fired on in Kuthuparamba.

Pseudo cultural leaders like Professor Vijayan, who still holds Stalin as a supreme world leader, approved the killing of the animals and birds. The CPM is playing a dangerous game in Kannur by attacking an