it's important to be aware of it if there's to be any hope of ever reaching clarity or truth. Most certainly a professional journalist sent to the Middle East to report should be capable of reporting devoid of bigotry or injustice to the facts. Ruth Pollard is a disgrace to her profession. One of the problems Israel has is that within the framework of its democracy people are free to criticize or lie or say what they like. That's part of the democratic situation. Who knows what motivates people such as those in the BtS group -- it's a psychological conundrum that could probably be understood better by reading the writings of Israeli academic and writer, Barry Rubin. Have a look at his book, 'Jew: assimilation and its discontents'. There are 'discontents' residing in Israel as well, who have real problems with their own Jewish identity. How they project that and what they actively do with it is not something Australian newspaper editors or journalists would understand. You are welcome to debate the case here. I will show that Israel is an apartheid state and is colonising palestine. You are welcome to argue it is not with well-researched, comprehensively considered material. Gian should simply submit Pollard's reports, incidently reported in The Independent and within Israel as well, and her own to the fairness test. Do Pollard's and Gian's respective writings stand up to the test of accuracy and truthfulness ? Pollard's clearly do and supported by the factual evidence by