To the editor:
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The article attempts to provide support for (director of the Jewish Community Relations Council) Michael Kotzin’s suggestion that “segments who didn’t support the [Palestinian-Israeli] peace process” might be inclined to “act out” violently to vent their frustrations over the ongoing negotiations. It’s bad enough the Reader decided to highlight segments of Pick’s story supportive of this nonsense; the author fails to provide Kotzin’s suggestion with any concrete evidence.
While the quote from a 17-year-old Palestinian boy involved in the Kollel fire is suggestive, he didn’t say anything like “Gosh, I hate section eight paragraph five of the Oslo Agreement so much I thought I should go out and torch some synagogues.” And the paid culprits in the Mikro Kodesh fire can hardly be accused of being motivated by political sympathies alone.
But what is truly tragic is this: instead of selecting a topic that would positively reflect on Rogers Park and the Chicago area’s vibrant Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities, Pick chose to write a perfunctory report concerning hatred, bigotry, and violence.
