Column sheds light on Palestinians’ plight

I wanted to commend your publishing the guest column “Settlements, attacks drive out Palestinians” on Dec. 13. It is remarkable in a land of free press that there is so little coverage of the violence toward Palestinians in the occupied territories. So often, we only hear about the terrorist attacks on Israel. This leaves us with a blind spot in our understanding of the Arab world's anger at U.S. financial support for Israel.

Sarah MacDonald's opinion piece combines courage and clarity in presenting the problem. It is unclear how anything will improve in the Middle East if the Israeli setters continue to act this way. It is assumed that peace is desired on all sides but it will be impossible until honest accountability occurs in the Middle East and the United States.

Carolyn L. Turvey

Associate Professor

Department of Psychiatry

University of Iowa