Muslim countries offer less appealing refuge
The letter writer who suggests that Muslim nations should start caring for Muslim refugees is perhaps ignoring the fact that Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have already taken in millions of refugees. (“Muslim nations should welcome their own,” Readers Write, Nov 29.) The idea that these new Syrian refugees are now fleeing these camps for fear of becoming like the Palestinian refugees from earlier wars who have been denied economic opportunity is much more likely due to the very crowded and unsanitary conditions in which they are forced to live. The blame for denying Palestinians economic opportunity does not rest entirely at the door of Muslim nations, however, as Israel has been stifling the Palestinian economy for years due to restrictions on movement, land access and water in the occupied West Bank, which it currently controls. The greater tragedy is that some of the older Palestinians who took refuge with their parents in Syria during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, after being expelled from their homes in the British Mandate of Palestine in order to establish the State of Israel, are now refugees for the second time in their lives.
COLIN MASON, ATLANTA
Electric car users pay a higher share
Regarding “Electric vehicle sales dip as tax break ends” (News, Nov. 30), in the first year I had my Nissan Leaf, an electric car, I drove it 8,513 miles. Driving that far in my other car, which has a mileage rating of 30 mpg, would use 284 gallons of gas, resulting in a tax paid of $74. At $200 per year for the new electric car registration fee, I’m paying 2.7 times the tax per mile for my Leaf as for my other car. I agree I should pay my fair share for maintaining the roads my Leaf uses, but $200 per year is by no means fair.
BILL BOYD, NEWNAN
Tech fan finds Richt move regrettable
The Mark Richt dismissal is a puzzler. As a Tech man, I have no love for the state’s flagship university, but as a longtime sports fan, sports writer/broadcaster and modest aficionado, I stand perplexed. I liked Richt. I recognize that UGA has a long history of high performance in intercollegiate athletics, driven for many decades by gridiron achievement. But I cannot figure it. At Georgia Tech, history tells us Bobby Dodd never had a contract as football coach. The legendary North Avenue coach went on a yearly handshake. The game has changed, to say the least. A big-business mentality — a bottom-line approach rather than a people approach — has swept the game aside like “student body right” used to clear defenders from scrimmage to goal line. It’s not a game anymore. Kinda sad.
ED LORENZ, ATLANTA
