In response to:

The Red Cross Torture Report: What It Means from the April 30, 2009 issue

Wall: A Monologue from the April 30, 2009 issue

In David Hare’s “Wall: A Monologue” [NYR, April 30], there was an incomplete reference to the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, in which Hamas defeated Fatah and won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Following those elections, which took place in both Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh became prime minister under Palestinian Authority president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. The new government collapsed amid violent rifts between Hamas and Fatah, however, and in June 2007 Hamas took control of Gaza, leaving the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in control of the West Bank.

Also, owing to an editorial error, the phrase that Palestinians use for the wall was incorrectly printed, and should have been jidar al-fasl al-‘unsuri —Arabic for “racist separation wall.”