Micah Merrick's letter perpetuated several myths that the PLO has fed to the western media. Merrick cites Ariel Sharon's war record, yet neglects to mention that Yasser Arafat rose to power by killing countless Israelis through terrorist activities.

Merrick also complains that the "four million refuges still await justice," neglecting to explain why the refugees still exist. In 1948, many Arabs voluntarily left Israel, encouraged by the Arab leaders' promise to purge the land of Jews. Most left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier. The "refugee situation" was created intentionally. Arab countries have refused to integrate these "refugees" into the Arab lands to which they fled.

It is sad that the Arabs living in the West Bank have been affected negatively by the actions of terrorists. It's also sad, though, that while I was in Israel over winter break, I had to call home every day, simply to reassure my parents that I was OK, not dead or injured as the result of a car bomb or "hordes of teenagers armed with stones."

Israelis are desperate for peace, so desperate that Barak was willing to put Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish people, on the bargaining table, even if history has shown that that the Arab world will accept nothing less than the destruction of the State of Israel.

The Jewish people cannot have blind trust in the international order to protect their interests. The lessons of the Holocaust have been well learned, and the safety and lives of the Israeli people cannot be compromised.