A further response to the Methodist Church

[Sean Brown]

Re your article in Times of Israel "A Further response to the Method Church's call for comments"

 http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/response-to-the-methodist-church/

I am a member of the Methodist Church and as I was reading the recommended document "Time for Action" the British Christian response to the Kairos Palestine document  I became increasingly antagonistic to Israel because of the harsh criticism of that country in this document.

 But as an academic who advocates critical thinking  I later developed an uneasy feeling that, perhaps because of the distinguished authors of "Time for action", I had not exercised my critical faculties as I should have done.. I realized that the document that had produced my strong emotional anti-Israel feelings did  not tell the complete story. For example, it made no mention of  the rockets that had been fired on Israel or the many terror bus bombings.

A business associate recommended that I read this article in Times of Israel and I am writing to say thank you for the interesting relevant information provided. I was totally unaware of the facts revealed about the San Remo conference, the  background to the 1948 and 1967 wars, the background to the refugee problem, the differences between UNRWA and UNHCR and other aspects of what the article refers to as the "Other side of the coin".  

If the mainstream media don't fulfill their duty of providing balanced information, how can we arrive at informed opinions? I hope that this article will be brought to the attention of all who participate in the forthcoming Methodist conference

Andy Brown Ph.D

[KAUFMAN SAVILLE]

Dear Mr Brown

I commend you on how you have allowed this most informative article by Maurice Ostroff to guide your thinking and how you have so openly spoken out about your uneasiness and the need to base ones opinions on balanced reporting.

There are so many out there that can take a leaf out of your book.

Yours

Saville Kaufman