Air Date: Week of October 10, 1997

Responses to our special series on Middle East Troubled Waters.

Transcript

CURWOOD: And now it's time to hear from you, our listeners. Our series on water conflicts in the Middle East provoked a range of responses. Yuri Gurevich, a listener to WUOM in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called the reports “conscious and sophisticated anti-Israeli propaganda. You say that the Palestinians want cooperation and Israelis want domination. Have you ever heard about Palestinians that do not want cooperation?" Mr. Gurevich writes, "I do not say that Israel is right and Palestinians are wrong. They certainly have well-founded grievances. I do say that you should not be in the business of producing biased and poisonous reports." But others like David Rubin, who listens to WBUR in Boston, applauded our efforts. Mr. Rubin writes that the series "cut through political rhetoric and reached the realities of everyday life for ordinary people. I also appreciated the inclusion of alternative voices among Israelis, calling for a more equitable distribution of water resources. Such calls are now unfortunately the true voices in the wilderness. Such first-rate radio journalism as your series points the way."