Confrontation in the Mideast

Having read Ball’s column, I then turned the page and read Jeane Kirkpatrick’s column “Palestinians Must Speak for Themselves.” As always, I stand in awe of a country with a system of government that provides the freedom of press for contradictory opinions to appear together in print. Although we in the United States are finding deep painful divisions in placing value judgments on the nature of this material, we cannot but honor a country that encourages its citizens to freely write and publish their subjective ideologies.

As an American and a Jew whose ancestral heritage envelopes a legacy of persecution, I daily renew my dedication to the government of the United States, which has not only given the greatest opportunity and protection to its Jewish citizens, but which questions and refocuses its own ideals in an ongoing effort to give all citizens a life of security and peace.

JO-ANN WINNIK

Encino