Thank you for Bud Vana's comprehensive coverage "Palestinians' plight and rights discussed" (Chronicle, June 26) -one of the critical moral issues of our time. One minor point for clarification: confusion regarding the method used by Israelis to demolish Palestinian homes probably came from my example of my standing and watching as a child with a young friend as her home "burned to the ground." In the Occupied Territories, bulldozers and more recently as in Jenin, tanks with a special front-end attachment, have been used to raze Palestinian homes made of stone and masonry. Regardless, the effect is the same on the family and especially the children, which was really the point of my mentioning it. The loss of one's physical dwelling is devastating; the emotional toll and psychological damage, immeasurable.

Miriam Ward, RSM, Burlington, VT 05401

Photo credits: Photos courtesy Ben Scribner, International Solidarity Movement