‘Dangerous Deception’

I am both disappointed and disturbed by The Times’ anti-Israel obsession. It was exemplified by your editorial “Dangerous Deception” (July 9).

With everything horrendous going on in the world, you devoted an editorial to an alleged incident regarding the arrest of a 17-year-old Arab boy. Where were your photographs and editorials when the Russians shot 35 Armenians to death in a single day? Or when the Iraqis were using chemical warfare against the Iranians?

You finish your editorial with a supercilious statement that “Israelis who place a higher value on protecting their nation’s democracy ought to be deeply concerned.” Don’t you realize that the only reason that your newspaper and other news media can even get this information is because Israel is a democracy and has a free press?

As for Conrad, he actually crosses the line from being anti-Israel to being anti-Semitic. His Jan. 5 “cartoon” desecrated the Jewish Star. I can’t believe that you would permit this kind of blatant anti-Semitism if you realized how deeply it offended so many of your readers. ROBERT GORE RIFKIND

Los Angeles