To the Reader,
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We were sorry to read several of the letters published in the November 26 Reader, which seemed simply to repeat, in various ways, the old assertions that any questioning of Israel’s history or discussion of Palestinian history is part of a long-standing, generalized conspiracy against the Jews.
Israeli historians such as Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, Ilan Pappe, Tom Segev, and Zeev Sternhell have been at the forefront of reexamining the origins of the State of Israel and giving the Palestinian experience its appropriate place in the narrative. Indeed, Israel’s 50th anniversary occasioned a far more honest and searching look at this history in Israel itself than it did in the United States. Israeli high schools have even incorporated previously unacknowledged events such as the massacre at Kufr Qasem into their curriculum.
