Editor, Daily Nexus,

To the Muslim/Arab students at UCSB: You are currently the source of my annoyance. For being a disproportionately small number of my Facebook friends, you command a large amount of space on my news feed. I am friends with Zionists – right- and left-wing – that never pull the same tactics you do.

Every day, when I open up my News Feed, I see a story about the “occupier’s” shady war games or a withdrawal anniversary. You need to stop pointing the finger and placing the blame.

All you’re interested in is discrediting Israel and its citizens. You think that if you show that the state of Israel is the bad guy that the world will run in and soothe the Levant and Middle Eastern nations.

At best, you are hypocrites. I hear complaints that the Israeli group on campus is too right-wing and impossible to talk to. You countered them with your own groups but are just as conservative and stubborn as you claim American Students for Israel to be. You need to be open to the possibility that both sides make mistakes in the way they govern their countries. You aren’t the innocent oppressed people you claim to be.

Our wonderful community just wrapped the world’s Israel/Palestine Film Festival, yet the tension in the air couldn’t be stronger. We live in one of the world’s most progressive and open communities and we need groups on campus that actively work together to make peace on our seaside campus.

Jewish wisdom teaches the value of being a personal example. We need to apply this principle to our daily lives. With Jewish and Israeli groups coming together with Students for Justice in Palestine, the Lebanese and Muslim clubs for various social, educational and volunteer events, we have the opportunity to become “a light unto the nations,” a positive role model from which our countries can take note.