I'd like to respond to the general ridiculousness that's surrounding the current dilemma in Israel.

Most notably, the Nov. 11 letter from Parimah Hassouri and Jennifer Labowitz. The notion that Israel has any interest in "brutally occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip" is simply ridiculous. Furthermore, the idea that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has robbed "Palestinians of their dignity and most basic human rights, including the right to self-determination and statehood" is laughable to the truly well-informed.

Israel has wanted nothing but peace with the Palestinians since Palestine was partitioned in 1948. Rather than Israel, it has been the collective war effort of the Arab nations that has led to incessant fighting for more than 50 years. The Palestinian people have been offered statehood four times.

Most recently, Ehud Barak offered Arafat some 98 percent of his demands. What did Israel get for such peace-seeking attempts? Not only did they not get a counter offer, they also were confronted by one of the greatest outbreaks of terrorism in their short 54-year history. Rather than the IDF's "heavy-handed" policies, it's the continual determination of the Palestinian leadership to "drive Israel into the sea" that has failed the Palestinian people. One will notice that since the lastest intifada, the more active Israel has been in the war on terrorism, the less terrorist activities have succeeded. Hence, unless Palestinian and Arab leadership change, Israel has no choice but to aggressively fight against and uproot terrorism. It's truly a shame two peoples have been so painfully afflicted because the Palestinian people have been used as unwitting pawns in the Arab nations' and Islamic Fundamentalism's war on Jewish, Western and democratic ideals.