rejected by the Times

Cleaning out old emails is like paging through a ramshackle diary; the old notes I'm reading summon the mood and events of certain months in my life. Here's a good one from August of 2006, when I was coming home from Egypt, living at my parents' house, and glued to news of the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon. It's a letter the New York Times did not see fit to print. I'm a little surprised at the ending; I'm not sure if my obvious insinuation that Friedman is committing racism against Arabs gets to the heart of the matter or is an inflammatory distraction in a plea for nuance.

To the Editor:

Re: "Buffett and Hezbollah," Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed, Aug. 9:

I struggle to find, in this article, factual evidence to support Friedman's claim that "Hezbollah youth dream of being martyrs," any description of who these youth are, or how Friedman obtained this insight into their desires. Do "Hezbollah youth" include all youth who benefit from Hezbollah's social services, any young person who voted for a Hezbollah candidate, or just the young members of Hezbollah's armed wings?

Mr. Friedman, you write that you look into the faces of Israeli soldiers. Do not the Lebanese, even the "Hezbollah youth," deserve the same examination, simply by virtue of being human? Or do Arabs not merit factual reporting?

(And here's the original editorial, though I'm refraining from reading it- no need to rehash that now...)