February 2009 presentation at the Mosque: Writing letters to the
newspaper.
Introduction and Background.
My friend and colleague Aly had mentioned
to my two
letter-writing partners and myself that more people in the Muslim
community were
interested in writing letters to the paper. I am here this evening to
share
with you my experiences over the years in writing letter to the local
paper.
For the past nearly 20 years my friends, Medhat and Victor, neither of
whom unfortunately could be here tonight, and I have been active
in
writing letters to our local paper. My first letter on the
In the beginning our focus was primarily on the injustices to which the
Palestinian people have been subjected for decades: Israeli
land-grabbing and
apartheid policies together with the official tolerance and even
support of
these policies by our government in defiance of multiple UN resolutions
(Resolution 242 to name but one). This intolerable situation,
remains an
issue even today.
Since then, however, new issues have come into focus: the two
Iraq wars,
9/11, subsequent verbal and written stereotypes and distortions of
Islam and
Muslims in general, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Gaza massacres and
here at
home the need for a greater awareness of the Muslim community and its
contributions,. and the creation of the American Muslim Women’s
Association (AMWA) in which I have played a modest role .- all these
things
have been a subject of interest.
Each of the three of us – all Catholic Christians - bring a different
perspective to these issues: Medhat, today a university
professor,.
through his academic background and vast knowledge of the history of
the Middle
East as well as his firsthand experiences as part of the UN observers
and
inspection team in Iraq during the decade between the two wars;
Victor,
who speaks with authority as an American US Navy veteran of Palestinian
heritage and who has been in the area where he visited family in
Bethlehem and
the West Bank. He has a personal knowledge of the history of the
conflict. All three of us, as Christians, care greatly for the all the
peoples
of the
As for myself, I bring the perspective of a Christian activist for
justice and
peace, with a background in theology and 35 years of teaching. Having
visited
the
Now, over the years the policies of our local paper have changed.
Of late
there has been less focus on international events and that makes it
harder to
get letters published unless they have some relevance to the local
community.
There are ways to make this happen, however. The recent events in
When we write letters we have to somehow make sure that they reflect
community
interest and the more you can focus your letters on local interests the
better.
Hints and
techniques in writing a letter to the
Editor
Introduction:
Some general comments
-
In
our local paper you are limited to 250 words (this is difficult and
requires
re-writing, editing, proofreading and discipline. Most of my letters go
through
at least a dozen revisions.) Note: there is also something called
a
“Community View” of which I have written a couple. This is
a longer
piece, limited to 750 words and is harder to get published than a 250
word
letter.
-
Whatever
you write should be reviewed by others to make sure it is clear to the
reader.
Bounce your letter off others for their criticism. Can the reader
follow your
thoughts in a logical manner? Do your thoughts follow in
sequence?
Do you stick to your topic and not wander all over. Keep the reader in
mind. You are trying to persuade him, not turn him off with
an
angry tirade.
-
You
must always give your name, town where you live, and telephone number.
Goals:
-
to
point out errors as they appear in letters, specially those that
champion the
actions of the Israeli government and the lack of evenhandedness on the
part of
our government.
-
to
enlighten community readers to the fact t that there is another side to
the
story
-
to
present a positive image of the local American Muslim and/or
Arab-American
community
Using
sources:
It is
always good to use sources that support your opinion. Make
sure you give your source when you quote it. You should use
- sources from
respected, neutral and objective observers when available
Note:
the best sources are always Israeli
sources whenever possible (the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, progressive
Jewish
sources like Gush Shalom, The Other Israel, Tikkun (in the United
States)
and enlightened Jewish authors like Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein,
The
British newspaper “Independent,” “The Guardian,” etc.
Admonitions:
-
always
avoid sounding “anti-American” or “anti-Jewish” Never do this.
-
Remember
that It is truly patriotic to point out US foreign policy
failings that
betray our nation’s calling and the best of traditional American
values. True
patriotism is not measured by slogans, bumper stickers or the size of
the
American flag on your SUV.
The
advantages of writing on WORD: When you use WORD to
prepare your letter
-
-
go to “tools” you will see “word count” and that will tell you how many
words
you have in your letter.
-
-
spelling mistakes will appear in red. Proper names will also
appear in
red and that gives you a chance to make sure you have spelled them
correctly.
(The computer will not recognize many words from the
-
-
Green markings are helpful: they tell you if you have written an
incomplete sentence, use bad grammar, your subject and predicate don’t
agree,
(a singular subject with a plural verb), your sentence is clumsy and
does not
hang together properly. Green also tells you that there are extra
spaces
between words that need to be eliminated, etc.
The
appearance of your letter.
The
proper use of paragraphs is important; even from a visual
point of view. People are turned off by a solid block of type. Your
letter
should be broken up into small paragraphs.
Three
Characteristics always necessary for a good letter or
composition
1. Unity (hangs together, stays with the topic, doesn’t wander)
2. Emphasis (your point is forcefully presented, give special attention
to make
your points stand out))
3. Coherence (easily understood by the reader, logically integrated,
consistent
and intelligible.
The
Paragraph
A
paragraph is usually a group of sentences (the first is which is
indented) that will develop a single topic, thought or idea. Paragraphs
often
employ “bridge words” to avoid abrupt transitions. Words like
”this, that,
but, still, yet, however, then, next, first, secondly, while, finally,
meanwhile, therefore, consequently,” often help linking your paragraphs.
Paragraphs
should not be overloaded. People have a hard time
with solid blocks of print.
Three
Kinds of letters: Examples
1.
Letters that respond to a letter that has appeared in the paper
with an erroneous opinion that needs to be challenged. This is
the most
common event that leads to our responding to such a letter.
Here I
gave the example of a letter that
supported
The
letter is questions was “
In the
first sentence the writer refers to letter in the paper
to which he is responding. He could have done it this way:
“Margaret X’s opinion is sheer hypocrisy.” He tells us to which
article
he is referring and gives the date the article was published. He
labels
her letter “hypocrisy” Then the second sentence is his topic
sentence
and is important: He states that she (the writer) has “no
understanding of the circumstances that led to the action
taken by Israel against Hamas” and implies that he is about
to set
the reader straight with the real facts.
*******************************
How to
respond to such a deceptive letter:
Look for the
most
vulnerable points or weakness in the writer’s letter. Don’t
try to
answer every point. Zero in on one or two errors or fallacies and
address
them. Example: his claim that it is Hamas’ fault that the people of
***************************************************************
2. Letters that comment on an article that
has
appeared in the Journal News
Rather
than a letter, there may be an article in The Journal News
about which
you would like to comment. You should refer to is by the title
and date
as it appeared, Example given of an article entitled “Religion hijacked
by
men.” This provided a springboard for letters about the role of women
in all
religions. (shared a copy of the letter in question)
*****************************************************************
3. Finally, you may want to write a letter
commenting
on a current event that may also relate to the local community.
Note:
recently, as I mentioned, our paper has tended to shy away from world
events
and focused more exclusively on local news. So it’s been hard to
bring up
the topic of the
For instance, there was a
recent article about a group of firemen from
I ended my presentation by
taking questions from the 50 or so men and women present. The questions
were
great, the prayer service devout and the reception warm and food
delicious.
***********************************************************
Postscript:
At the end of the
presentation I asked the audience if they knew what the official
teaching of
the Catholic Church was on Islam. They said “NO.”
So I proceeded to read to
them the text from the Second Vatican Council on Islam, commenting that
Pope
Benedict might have done better to review the teaching of his own
church before
bringing up an obscure text demeaning Islam during his visit to
DECLARATION ON
THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
NOSTRA AETATE
PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965
3.
The
Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God,
living and
subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of
heaven and
earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit
wholeheartedly to
even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of
Islam
takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not
acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor
Mary,
His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In
addition,
they await the day of judgment when God will render their desserts to
all those
who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral
life and
worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
Over
the
centuries many quarrels and dissentions have arisen between
Christians and Muslims. The sacred council now pleads with all to
forget the
past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual
understanding for the benefit of all, let them live together, preserve
and
promote peace, freedom, social justice and moral values.
(italics
mine)
Richard Cross