Letters to the editor

Al-Awda conference undermined efforts to establish
peace

The people of the Middle East have experienced war for too long
and deserve to live in peace. With its current disengagement plan
from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, Israel is making significant
strides toward this goal. Israel is exemplifying its commitment to
peace for both Israelis and Palestinians by endangering its own
internal stability for the sake of disengagement from the
Palestinians. Today, peace seems closer than ever before.

The recent al-Awda conference here at UCLA regarding the return
of Palestinians to Israel is a serious blow to the ideals of peace.
Conference organizers demand that huge numbers of Palestinians be
allowed to move into Israel, a notion that is unacceptable for many
Palestinians and Israelis alike.

A massive Palestinian migration into Israel will cause the only
Jewish state in the world to lose its Jewish character, thereby
eliminating the hopes that the Jewish people have had for over
2,000 years.

A Palestinian migration into Israel will also bring about the
economic destruction of a Palestinian state by causing the skilled
Palestinian labor force to move into Israel, where opportunity and
economic stability will be far superior until the Palestinian
economy can be successfully nurtured.

Additionally, a Palestinian migration into Israel will bring
about increased clashes between two groups of people that want to
lead separate lives.

Instead of attempting to damage the peace process and the future
of Palestinians as well as Israelis, the participants of the
al-Awda conference should have spent their weekend promoting the
current efforts for a Palestinian-Israeli peace.

Leeron Morad Bruins for Israel spokesperson

UC workers’ strike methods ineffective,
impractical

Normally I’m not one to loudly vocalize my opinion, but
something about the strike situation last Thursday irked me. For
the life of me I can’t understand why I was repeatedly
implored by peers, union members and editorials in The Bruin,
“Students should support UC workers” (4/13), not to
cross the dining hall workers’ picket lines.

Whether the workers were justified in striking I’m not
sure, and for the purpose at hand I don’t really care. Asking
students not to eat in dining halls is practically and economically
senseless.

The purpose of a strike is to compel an employer to agree to
terms and conditions of employment by showing the business how
crucial the workers are to its operation, and if the strike harms
the business financially, so much the better.

In some cases, picketing to emphasize a strike makes sense in
theory, but in trying to stop patrons from consuming an item
they’ve already paid for, they are violating the basic
principles of economics.

I was harassed by picketers on all six occasions I went into and
out of a dining hall on Thursday. When picket lines are justified,
it can be an inconvenience. When they are unnecessary and cause
others strife, it’s just downright irritating.

On my way out of a practically deserted dining hall at lunch I
decided to actually talk to one of the picketers, and found her
logic was that if students didn’t go in, UCLA would be losing
money due to wasted food. But that is just not the case. Yes, some
of the food will go to waste, but even if it does, what does UCLA
care? They had your money long before that slab of chicken ever hit
the grill.

All students did by not eating on campus was to waste their own
food and show UCLA that it’s not a problem if the workers
strike.

Bryan Schofield Second-year, business and
economics