As a Muslim woman I was greatly disturbed by the article in the Woman News section entitled “A feminist’s case against Islam” (Feb. 1). Although the reporter attempts to offer the truth to the readers through the voice of Fadwa El Guindi, this reality is lost between the fallacies Phyllis Chesler is trying to promote.

It is interesting that the editorial board chose to describe the failure of Congress to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act a “regrettable effect” of the disclosure that President Bush authorized many times spying on American citizens (“Missteps in the war on terror,” Dec. 19).

Ariel Sharon’s decision to leave the Likud Party and form a new centrist party has led many to praise the Israeli Prime Minister. Jesse Jackson writes, “At the same time, Sharon and Peres deserve Palestinian counterparts in reaching for new and higher ground” and praises Sharon’s “pursuit of peace” (“At last, tiny springs of hope in the Middle East, Dec. 13”)

The suspension of a high school student for speaking Spanish should make all Americans question what being an American truly means (“Suspension over speaking Spanish is talk of the town,” Dec. 11).

Since the death of Israeli civilians in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians has been acknowledged, there must now also be recognition of the innocent Palestinian children, women and men who have been killed by Israeli settlers and military (“Mourning all the lost Julias,” Dec. 11).

After her recent meeting with European foreign ministers discussing American use of torture, Condoleezza Rice said at a press conference, “I think it’s only natural that sometimes we have these discussions,” (“Rice, Europeans agree to disagree on torture,” Dec. 9).

Thanks again to Dawn Trice for taking the time to reaffirm the dangers of racial and ethnic profiling (“From any angle, racial profiling is still wrong,” Metro Dec. 8).

I would like to thank the editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune for including the story about Najaf and Mosul with the coverage of President Bush’s latest Iraq speech (“A tale of 2 scarred cities: Najaf and Mosul,” Dec. 8).

Kudos to the Tribune for a fine feature piece that showcased interviews with four Arab Americans. It is high time we heard from and about Arabs and Muslims who are ordinary citizens and not terrorists or alleged terrorists. This type of coverage that sheds light on the human face of Arabs and Muslims will go along way in diffusing myths and stereotypes about them that sadly remain prevalent among many.

The Arab voices included in the December 8th Metro section are a great start to inviting readings to engage with the people who are talked about so much yet rarely heard from (“Arabs-from fascination to hatred to tolerance”).

One would assume that when the United States in 1994 ratified the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the discussion over when and how much torture will be tolerated will never come up again. The convention clearly states, “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

In a response to an editorial published in Glenview Watch criticizing Rep. Mark Kirk’s calls to “discriminate” against Arab males, a reader writes, “You can always use the example of Oklahoma City to show that it's ‘just not fair to profile Arab men.’ But it's not white males who are doing most of the terrorist attacks in the world!”

In his article “Riots could happen in rest of Europe,” Tom Hundley writes in reference to the recent riots in France, “Most are Muslims, which may impede their integration into Western societies, but Islam itself did not appear to be an organizing or motivating element in the French riots” (Nov. 20). Yet, in the same article, he goes on to argue that the multiculturalism solution of many European countries has failed, citing the July 7th bombings and the murder of a Dutch filmmaker by a Muslim.

In his effort to justify ethnic and racial profiling, Steve Haisley claims that it is the same as a crime victim giving the police a description of an 18 year-old African-American and then expecting “the authorities to focus their investigation on 60-year-old white men” (“Like it or not, Kirk comments are true,” Nov. 20).

It is funny to see how the people who criticize President Bush for being a big government conservative would at the same time applaud his efforts to expand the government’s investigative and enforcement powers to curtail civil liberties under the guise of national security (“Safety vs. liberty: How far should we go?” Nov. 20).

Those who trumpet terrorism as a conspiracy by the Muslim people against people of other faiths should pay more attention to current world events. Friday's terrorist attacks targeted 2 Mosques in Iraq on Islam's holiest day of the week, resulting in the cold-blooded murder of 74 innocent Muslims as they knelt in prayer. This vicious attack is evidence that terrorists harbor as little regard for the sanctity of Muslim holy places and Muslim life as they do for those of Christians, Jews, or others. Indeed, Muslims have been the targets of terrorist attacks more often than people of any other faith.

Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) believes peace activists from Egypt should be greeted at O’Hare airport with a hefty doze of institutionalized discrimination.Their offense? Being of the same age group and national origin as Mohamed Atta.

Its amazing how people are willing to support leaders willing to trample over the basic rights of life and liberty this country was founded on. Racial profiling would not only be ineffective in eliminating crime, but will also further alienate the 7 million and growing population of Muslims in this country. When Pat Robertson said to kill Hugo Chavez, we didn'tgo out and say lets racially profile all evangelical Christians. No, we denounced the man responsible for those comments.