Editor:

I expect university papers to present and explore topics of the day in a more comprehensive manner than one comes to expect from the mainstream media of this country.

The Chronicle’s page two story on Jan. 6, “Two Suicide Bombers Kill 23, Wound 100,” which was provided by the Associated Press, unfortunately reflects the limited understanding Americans have of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The attacks, described in a very active voice on behalf of the victims, appear to have broken a period of “relative calm.” The question should be “calm for whom?” Certainly not for the Palestinians, who have suffered 111 causalities, 26 of whom were children, in the last two months.

Maybe the Associated Press does not count Palestinians on the list of human victims in its understanding of the situation.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a cycle of violence, set in motion by a brutal and illegal 35- year occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands. It is not a neat set of events “started” by a suicide bombing attack and “finished” by an Israeli response.

As Americans, we finance this occupation and give Israel the political cover it needs to avoid the natural consequences of its brutality.

We should all demand from our media a harder look at the conflict and the evils it engenders. And as an “educated” segment of our society, we should be savvy about how the media can manipulate readers and viewers.

Maha Barrani

Alumna