Israel, Palestinians and Violence in Gaza and the West Bank

Regarding the front-page photograph of an Israeli soldier said to have “fired his rifle in the direction of Palestinian demonstrators (Part I, Dec. 12), attention is redirected to the unbalanced dwelling on such news when coming out of Israel.

Part of the problem, of course, is the fact that Israel is very much a democracy so that photographers and newsmen have their field day there, which is denied them elsewhere in the Middle East, as, for example, in the continuing war between Iran and Iraq where far larger numbers are casualties every day with practically no news or fanfare, including at the United Nations.

But in a newspaper such as The Times, which claims objectivity and, I hope, to some degree wisdom, attention should be given to whether such fascinated attention in the American media isn’t, to a very large extent, the reason why the demonstrators demonstrate, while ignoring the fact that they are far better fed, clothed, housed and indeed treated than in most of the Arab world.

It is not suggested that your current news coverage is untrue, but only that the fascination with this negative aspect is unbalanced and counter-productive, and not helping Americans get a balanced view of the Middle East.

LEONARD HORWIN

Beverly Hills