Israel’s Supporters and Mideast Reporting

Re “From Jewish Outlook, Media Are Another Enemy,” April 28: Critics of The Times and other newspapers are not necessarily “pro-Israel” and “anti-Palestinian”; they are informed individuals who expect coverage that is equitable and in-depth, rather than the prevailing reportage, which uses such Hollywood archetypes as villains and underdogs to tell simplistic fairy tales about world events. Heart-tugging human-interest angles have their place, but they cannot substitute for historical perspective and intelligent analysis. As publishers of a major newspaper, the charge of anti-Semitism ought be the least of your worries; your first task is fulfilling your responsibility to inform our free society. And in that regard, you fail.

Ted Rand

Ilana Rand

Santa Monica

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Regarding the graffiti on a wall in Jerusalem (photo), “Foreign Press--Israel’s enemy”: I have never experienced access to more relevant information on the Mideast conflict in the daily newspaper than in recent years, and I resent any efforts to turn back the clock on this state of affairs.

Even if Israel treats the foreign press as an enemy, it does not follow that Israel is an enemy of the foreign press. Do Israel’s supporters seriously contend that the American public has been kept in the dark about the cafe bombings? Do Americans have a more balanced view if they remain ignorant of 30 years of settling fully enfranchised Israeli citizens in annexed territories where the original inhabitants remain foreigners?

Gary R. White

Studio City