In his Nov. 14 rebuttal to a recent guest commentary Kal Leichtman, who described himself as “a native-born U.S. citizen” (apparently to distinguish himself from those who aren’t), referred to the Pakistan-born Snohomish County businessman who wrote the guest commentary as “fanatical” and “delusionary” and stated that he should “take the first flight from this country going to Pakistan, where he could urge his countrymen to stop hiding Osama bin Laden” (“Criticism of Israel lobby group was off the mark”) .
This call to go back to where you came from is highly offensive on at least two grounds: 1. It implies that America cannot tolerate a divergence of opinions; and 2. It assumes that immigrants cannot be true Americans. This latter assumption has fueled such acts as the incarceration of tens of thousands of citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, and contributes to the fact that even now, non-White Americans, particularly Asian-Americans and Middle Easterners, are still considered foreigners.
The fact is, “his countrymen” are you and me. Demeaning the patriotism of an immigrant (particularly when the immigrant’s son is a cadet at West Point) is insulting, inappropriate and detracts from whatever other points he was trying to make.
Robert Hayman
Marysville
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