To the Editor,

We would like to address some issues regarding Monday’s article about Joseph… To the Editor,

We would like to address some issues regarding Monday’s article about Joseph Dana’s presentation. We support peaceful cooperation of Palestinians and Israelis but were disappointed in The Pitt News’ inaccurate reporting regarding the event, Students for Justice in Palestine’s slanderous representation of Israel and Dana’s lack of balance.

The first major error committed by The Pitt News was in defining and describing Israel’s security barrier. The Pitt News repeatedly referred to the security barrier as a “wall” that was “part wood, part concrete.” This is simply gross negligence in reporting. Over 97 percent of the security barrier is chain-link fence. The short concrete sections are there to stop Palestinian terrorists from shooting through the fence and killing innocent Israeli civilians as they drive on Israeli roads (mfa.gov.il). Conveniently for Dana, he neglected to mention that the security fence was built in response to the thousands of Israelis killed in terrorist attacks and has drastically cut down on Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel. Even the leader of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad admitted the security fence has stopped his group from being able to commit suicide bombings in Israel (Intelligence & Terrorism Information Center).

Next, The Pitt News repeatedly referenced a nonexistent country “Palestine.” Palestine was in fact a British mandate that ended over 62 years ago. It is now the internationally recognized State of Israel — which is the Jewish homeland and only Jewish country — as well as Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. This action by The Pitt News is not only geopolitically incorrect, it is downright irresponsible.

Micah Toll

Senior, Mechanical Engineering

Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America