‘Castor and Islamic Jihad’

William West hits the nail on the head when it comes to Betty Castor’s candidacy for the Senate [“Castor and Islamic Jihad,” Opinion, August 12, 2004].

Although I do not live in Florida and have no personal stake in the outcome of the upcoming Democratic senatorial primary, I am interested in Ms. Castor’s handling of Sami Al-Arian’s case because my 20-year-old daughter, Alisa, was the victim of a 1995 terrorist attack by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Three other American citizens on the bus Alisa was riding were among the wounded.

As public allegations of Mr. Al-Arian’s ties to Islamic Jihad began to surface in the mid-1990s, in a June 1995 staff memo that was published in various press outlets, Ms. Castor wrote that she was “deeply concerned by implications” that the University of South Florida should investigate the situation or be the “arbiter” of which ideologies are “‘good’ or ‘evil.'” And today, as Ms. Castor runs for an office responsible for the representation of one of this nation’s most important states, she claims to have been tough on terrorism and says that she did all she could to safeguard her school from being used as a headquarters for the financing and support of an international terrorist group.

However, Ms. Castor’s initial response to allegations that one of her professors was actively engaged in illicit behavior on behalf of a violent, anti-Semitic terrorist organization was one of hesitancy and inaction. And many of her public statements since then also seem to indicate a less than full-fledged effort to ferret out any terrorist ties among USF employees, including Mr. Al-Arian.

As the father of an Al-Arian victim, I have to ask why Ms. Castor hesitated for more than a year after initial reports surfaced linking Mr. Al-Arian to Islamic Jihad to commission an investigation into his activities and the ties between his “think tank,” the World and Is lamic Studies Enterprise, the cooperative agreement between USF and WISE, and any links to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The signs of involvement as pointed out by Mr. West were there. But where was Ms. Castor’s curiosity, let alone concern for the academic environment at the university that would cause her to investigate the situation?

Why couldn’t Ms. Castor put two and two together when a former USF professor, who came to the school through Mr. Al-Arian’s think tank, left the school, only to become the leader of Islamic Jihad shortly thereafter?

As a university president, Ms. Castor did not want to be the arbiter of good or evil, and refused to take a tough stance on a terrorist organization that had infiltrated her campus and which purposefully targeted civilians, including American citizens.

As a U.S. senator, will she maintain her previous position and continue to dodge questions of what constitutes “good” or “evil”?

STEPHEN M. FLATOW
West Orange, N.J.

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‘Turtle Bay’s Tax Plan’

There he goes again. Prime Minister Chirac is “convinced that [the United Nations] shall not be able to avoid setting up an international taxation system” to eliminate world hunger. James Morris of the U.N.’s World Food Program “is ecstatic” [“Turtle Bay’s Tax Plan,” Editorial, August 4, 2004].

The notion of the U.N. as a taxing authority is so ludicrous on so many scores as to be dismissed out of hand. As The New York Sun observes, Mr. Chirac is not about to reduce French barriers to competition in favor of underdeveloped economies. Rather, his agenda amounts to yet another slap at America, which would bear the brunt of any such scheme.

Philanthropic organizations will address food, health, and other needs in underdeveloped countries for now. But, feed a nation today and you’ll have to feed it tomorrow. Free a nation today, and tomorrow its citizens will take care of themselves.

The fundamental issue eternally lost on the world’s do-gooders is that the means of fostering the wellbeing of those in underdeveloped nations is development. What the haves have that the have-nots have not is political freedom.

Capitalism, the only moral political system, is the long-term solution to the problem of underdevelopment. What the downtrodden require in order to lift them up to self-sufficiency is recognition and protection of their individual rights under the rule of law. Over the long run, they need justice, not free lunches.

Political freedom facilitates the conditions required to sustain a nation’s citizens in perpetuity. Let us raise our eyes from altruism – redistributing wealth – to eliminate the barriers that separate them from the ability to fulfill their potential. Let us promote capitalism.

Monsieur Chirac?

EDWIN R. THOMPSON
Manhattan

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‘A ‘Nay’ for Jerrold Nadler’

Bravo to columnist Alicia Colon for giving voice to the many in New York’s 8th Congressional District who believe Rep. Jerrold Nadler needs to go [“A ‘Nay’ for Jerrold Nadler,” New York, July 19, 2004].

This election year, New York City faces issues that are too important to entrust to the increasingly volatile Mr. Nadler.

While Mr. Nadler seems to be busy beseeching the corrupt United Nations to oversee American elections, his opponent, Peter Hort, is mounting a thoughtful campaign that promises innovative ideas rather than more and more destructive partisanship.

As campaigns heat up this fall, Mr. Nadler will most assuredly be chirping the empty-headed singsong that “a vote for Peter Hort is a vote for President Bush.”

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Mr. Hort is a “progressive” in every sense, and is far from being a “mainstream” Republican.

He also happens to be an optimist who sees a New York City that is filled with promise, not malaise and gloom.

Politics aside, Mr. Nadler is a prototype of everything that is wrong with our government.

With our safety and our children’s future at stake every day, and in so many votes in Washington, New York City deserves real ideas, and not empty-headed political snipes. And it is Mr. Hort, not Mr. Nadler, who will give New Yorkers the thoughtful voice they need.

GIULIANO M. CRISTINO
Brooklyn