Letter to the Editor: Al-Bulushi should widen worldview

In response to Yousuf Al-Bulushi's article, "Let's Talk About Sex, Baby," I find it rather surprising that the primary newsflash as he calls it is that Chinese workers in Israel are not allowed to have sex with Israelis. I agree that this is a problem, and I also agree with the supposed main point of the article: that Duke students tend to be rather oblivious to important issues that exist outside of the Duke community. However, if Al-Bulushi is going to accuse Duke students of being ignorant of the world around them, perhaps he too should widen his horizons and look at human right violations outside of Israel. Dare I say, perhaps even look at the human rights violations in a Muslim country?

Take the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, for example, where thousands of blacks are enslaved by North African Arabs. Is this not more troublesome than the no-sex-with--Israelis clause for Chinese workers in Israel? Perhaps the execution of peaceful Kurdish rights activists in Iran is. If Al-Bulushi really believes that Israel's no-sex clause is one of the most pressing issues, then he is doing nothing but validating his self-proclaimed stereotype that Duke students are oblivious to the world's most important matters.

Benjamin Rosenblum

Trinity '06