Regarding “David Weprin’s Excellent Adventure” (June 25), Doug Chandler begins his report discussing Mr. Weprin’s activities but then goes off on a tangent, making one-sided and inflammatory statements about Hebron and the Jewish settlers living there. Chandler states simply that Hebron is an Arab city, and then cites Ori Nir, a spokesman for American Friends of Peace Now, who states that “the Hebron Fund … supports the most extreme settlers on the West Bank and is trying to push Palestinians from the center of Hebron.” What nonsense.
If Mr. Chandler’s main focus in the article was to discuss Mr. Weprin, then I think he made his point. But by discussing Hebron without mentioning the Jewish connection to the city, or by being so critical of The Hebron Fund, without quoting a spokesperson for the Fund, rather only quoting a person who incriminates it, Chandler violates basic reporting principles. The gratuitous remarks fall well below the standards of The Jewish Week.
What Chandler could have said is that Hebron is currently a divided city — home to both Muslims and Jews. And that Hebron is regarded as Judaism’s second holiest city. The Patriarchs and Matriarchs of our religion lived there and the Cave of Machpela is located there. King David first established Hebron as Israel’s capital city. And thousands of Jews visit the Jewish part of the city regularly.
Passaic, N.J.
