No Middle Ground in the Middle East

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Any question I had about the fairness of The Post's Dec. 29 front-page coverage of the Gaza conflict began to be answered with a photo for which the caption said, "Palestinians work to douse flames from an airstrike." It continued with an article headlined "Humanitarian Crisis; Food and Medical Supplies Grow Scarce in the Gaza Strip." Finally the question was answered in the negative on Page A10 with the subhead " 'Both Sides Are Wrong,' " based on a direct quote in the story.

How about emphasizing that Israel repeatedly expressed its desire to extend the cease-fire that ended Dec. 19? Or that Hamas's answer was a definitive "no," coupled with the unprovoked initiation of rockets launched indiscriminately at Israeli cities and towns? Or that one in eight Israeli citizens lives within range of those missiles? I expect better from The Post.

-- Bob Budoff

Annandale

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In November, The Post accurately described the Mumbai attacks as a massacre [editorial, Nov. 29]. Last week, you reported the killing of nine people by a man dressed as Santa Claus ["Grim Details Surface in Calif. Massacre," news story, Dec. 27].

Then there was the Dec. 29 news story in which you rightly said that Ugandan rebels "massacred" 189 people in their country. And you reported in great detail the massacre of 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in 2007. Yet, when more than 200 people died in the Gaza Strip on the first day of one of the bloodiest confrontations in the history of modern Middle East conflict, you reported at the top of the front page on Dec. 28, "Israeli Warplanes Pound Gaza."

So when is a massacre not a massacre? Apparently when the victims are Palestinian.

-- Susan Kerin

Rockville

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I have been disappointed by your pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian bias seen throughout your coverage of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. I was especially disappointed on Dec. 31 to see on Page A11 a picture of four bearded, Arab American men wearing Palestinian kaffiyehs to represent the pro-Palestinian protesters who marched in Washington the night before. In fact, the protest was mostly attended by older women and children, as well as by non-Arab Americans like me. To have chosen that picture showed your attempt to paint the protesters as a radical few, rather than a 3,000-strong group that was as diverse as the United States itself. Shame on you for pandering to America's pro-Israel bias.

-- Chelsea Kinsman

Washington