Comments on the article by M. Thabet et al (see record 2002-13648-001) which assessed the nature and severity of emotional problems in Palestinian children living in war zones. The present author contends that their conclusion that their findings evidence that children's emotional responses to different kinds of exposure to political violence are acute and severe, is not justified. The association of emotional problems in Palestinian youths with living in a strife-ridden area does not show that either is the cause of the other. He argues that a plausible alternative explanation is that the educational, political, religious, and social environment in which Palestinian children are raised causes emotional problems and the continued conflict in that region.