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Readers Write: What about Israel's role in Mideast Christian exodus?; Praise for truth-telling on Islam's role in Mideast

Letters to the Editor for the January 27, 2014 weekly magazine edition of the Monitor: If looking at the removal of Christians from the Middle East, one shouldn't ignore the plight of Palestinian Christians under the Israeli occupation; Too many reporters and government representatives do not have the fortitude to tell the truth about Islam in the Middle East.

| Brooklyn, N.Y. and Portland, Ore.

What about Israel's role in Mideast Christian exodus?

I was shocked but not surprised that the Dec. 16 cover story, "A Middle East without Christians?," didn't connect the "political and economic strife" Christians in Israeli-occupied Bethlehem "have faced over the past few decades" to the Israeli occupation under which all Palestinians in the occupied territories have lived, Muslims and Christians alike, since 1967.

If looking at the removal of Christians from the Middle East, one could look as far back as 1948 when Jewish forces expelled 85 percent of the Palestinians – Muslim and Christian – who lived in the territory that became Israel.

Until decent publications like the Monitor are willing to discuss fully the actualities of the Middle East, Americans will continue to be served what amounts to knee-jerk, pro-Israel pablum or coverage of the region that misleads from a political bent rather than tells the truth.

Peter Belmont

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Praise for truth-telling on Islam's role in Mideast

I want to commend the Monitor on a fair and balanced report on the Christian exodus from the Middle East. The Middle East is an area full of mine fields, both figurative and literal. But this cover story drew information from all sources and presented the same in a coherent format without injecting slant or commentary.

The article did not denigrate Islam; it just reported the truth about what is actually happening in most of the Middle East. Too many reporters and many of America's government representatives do not have the fortitude to tell the same truth for fear of backlash in this politically correct era.

This article represents the finest of the Monitor's tradition and journalism's profession.

Col. O.K. HILL (U.S. Army, ret.)

Portland, Ore.

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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

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But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

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