Reporting on Middle East

The Jakarta Post of Sept. 30 ran a major story on the peace accord between Palestinians and Israel with 10 centimeters of headlines.

But instead of focusing on the historic nature of the agreement which could lead to real peace and a homeland of the Palestinian people, the article focused on the rantings of Libya's Muammar Qaddafi.

Qaddafi demonstrated his regard for the Palestinian people by expelling 30,000 of them who were living in Libya. Neither he nor the Syrian blowhard, Hafez Assad, give a fig about the Palestinian people.

They both simply want to keep the two parties fighting in order to divert the attention of Arabs away from Libyan and Syrian brutalities. Israel is giving Palestinians more self rule than any Arab regime has ever done.

Why did the Post run such a negative article? It was very disappointing.

GARY GENTRY

Jakarta

Note: The historical event was reported briefly one day earlier due to the disadvantage of time difference. By the next day, the focus of the news had shifted to reactions to the event.

-- Editor