The American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), a national coalition of major American-Muslim organizations, today cautioned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to not allow his address to the American Jewish Congress be misconstrued as an endorsement of the state of Israel’s conduct towards occupied Palestinians.

The September 14 editorial titled “The UN and Sheriff Bolton” claims that the United Nations has been corrupt for years and that finally the United States is standing up to this world body and demanding reform. “Americans can be proud of their government’s long overdue assault on UN timidity, negligence and corruption” wrote the editorial board. Unfortunately there is absolutely no blame placed on the United States for the current obsoleteness of the United Nations.

The article about the Arab-Israeli orchestra is a welcome change to the usual coverage of the Middle East [''Barenboim seeks peace with his baton,'' Showcase story, Aug. 23].

Instead of letting emotional photographs and one-sided stories get the best of us, the facts on the Palestinian-Israeli issue should be reexamined. Everyone has seen the footage and heard the stories about the sadness and disparity of the Jewish settlers who were evicted from the Gaza Strip, but one must not forget the reasons for the removal of the settlers in the first place.

In the August 24, 2005 article, Pulling up Stakes Doesn’t Mean Israelis are Settling for Less, Gerald D. Skoning gave a rather weak and disturbing metaphor for the Israeli government’s eviction of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip.

By warning against British policies towards Israel, London Mayor Ken Livingstone is not trying to appease the terrorists as Sheryl Jedlinski claims, but rather is considering how British citizens feel towards their government’s positions (“There’s no future in appeasing terrorists,” Fencepost, Aug. 22). There is obviously disconnect between the country’s 1.5 million Muslim citizens and the greater population, and Livingstone is trying to figure out why it exists.

A grim picture of a Gaza settler’s life emerges from the editorial “Clinging to Gaza,” (Aug. 17) a picture that is not entirely accurate. The article offers a wrongful depiction of settlers living among animals just waiting to attack.

In his letter (“Breaking ties to Israel,” Aug. 17), Isaac Cohen cannot understand how the Presbyterian Church dares to divest from companies such as Caterpillar, which sells to Israel the equipment used to bulldoze the homes and farms of innocent Palestinians.