Terrorists have no religion but hatred

Terrorists' aim is to defame Muslims, a reader says. Other topics: short stories, 'half-Emirati' children, air travel

The main objective of terrorists is to defame Muslims, a reader says. Etienne Laurent / EPA

I am angry at the fact that these cowards were hiding behind Islam to terrorise innocent people (Terror attacks strengthen our resolve, November 15). I know so many Muslims, including those in my family, who are peaceful, loving and generous. Islam, like all other religions, is beautiful and preaches peace. These hateful cowardly acts are perpetrated by lunatics. They are not Muslims, just murderers. They do not represent Islam but only their own perverted ideas.

Jean Francoise Ng Lewis, Dubai

I feel it’s better to let others live the way they want rather than enforcing things on people. Also, instead of empowering a country with a lot of weapons, it’s better to empower the world with more peaceful activities. An “eye for an eye” policy will make the world go blind.

Jamil Tekedil, Dubai

The relations between France and the Muslim world, especially the Arab region, are very cordial. The country has a big Muslim population. Many of them have businesses and good jobs. Some people are jealous of all this. So they want to defame the Muslims. The intention of the terrorist attacks is nothing but this. I condemn this heinous act.

MA Mannan, Dubai

Shortage of short stories

Regarding the article The long read: Is Stephen King right to be worried about the short story? (November 8), I think nowadays short stories are generally used as promotional material instead of written to stand completely on their own. This is why a lot of them are often available free.

Many writers write short stories, for sure, but that’s not where the money is. So if someone purely focuses on shorts, they can’t make ends meet. So perhaps the art of writing a short story, completely independent of something larger, is not possible any more.

Even if you love writing them and do so all the time, only the most established authors can afford to put out an anthology with only their own stuff.

That said, I love short stories. But because they are not often found as stand-alone short stories, I often read old ones.

Alex Smith, Dubai

I think this has something to do with the advent of the internet. These days there are literary journals all over the internet. More journals means less visibility, which means it’s harder to get noticed as a short-fiction writer. This is good and bad, I think. Even though there is an opportunity for a good author to get a story published, there is less chance for them to build a career out of it.

Barbara Maciej, Dubai

Information is not helpful

I read the article Half-Emirati children suffering between feuding parents (November 12) and I’m sorry that this article is disappointing. Those of us – foreign women – who are happily married to Emiratis and our children are happy and well adjusted do not benefit from such reports.

We work hard to instil Emirati culture in our children. The divorce rate in this country is high regardless of the nationalities of the couple. Emiratis get divorced just as often as anyone else but yet they aren’t singled out. Why try to further isolate “half-Emirati” children than they already are due to the ignorance of people?

Name withheld by request

Make economy class better

I refer to Brett Debritz's opinion article My dream flight is where nobody gets a bad seat (November 12). I can only afford economy but the insufficient legroom gives me so much trouble. My husband is more than 6ft and I am 5ft 11 inches, but my legs are longer than his. I am happy to stay in economy, but I would willingly pay a little more for a few more inches of legroom.

Carol Goodey, Abu Dhabi