Rick Molloy, Federal
If recent letters in The Echo have left you confused about the Israel/Palestine conflict, then help is at hand.
Our local library has an extensive range of books on this tragic and seemingly intractable conflict and, if you are worried at the perceived bias of correspondents to The Echo, you can go to the library and enlighten yourself.
The Way to the Spring is by Ben Ehrenreich (an American Jew) who writes about the Occupation, which has been going on for over fifty years, and the deprivation and oppression constantly suffered by the occupied people on a daily basis.
In his book Going Home, Raja Shehadeh (a Palestinian Christian), records how the Occupation has entrenched itself in every aspect of movement; from the roads that can and cannot be used to the bureaucratic barriers that prevent a defined group of people leaving the West Bank. His earlier book Palestinian Walks (which unfortunately is not in the library), was awarded the Orwell Prize in 2008.
Ilana Hammerman (an Israeli Jew) writes movingly in her book A small door set in concrete… on the moral issues and absurdity of the conflict. She considers herself a patriotic Israeli citizen who loves her country, but is horrified by the Occupation.
There are many other books in the library by authors of different and contrasting nationalities and cultures, from which you are able to read and form your own opinion about this destructive and seemingly endless conflict. I hope you do.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
