This is in response to Anand Narasimhamurthy's letter ("Arafat's death won't solve Israeli conflict" Thurs., Nov. 18.) I agree that the passing of Yasser Arafat will not make peace easier in the Middle East. But, I disagree about the causes of the conflict. Polls show that the popular political parties in Palestine are Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These are the terror groups that have claimed responsibility for countless acts of violence against civilians. How can there ever be peace in the Middle East if the majority of Palestinians favor terror over diplomacy? Narasimhamurthy argues that this violence is a result of years of Israeli oppression. Funny, I remember that the Arab population was given 89 percent of all disputed land in the region. The occupation of this land was because of attacks against Israel. First they were attacked on the day they declared independence in 1948. Israel captured the Golan Heights, Gaza and the West Bank but returned them after the war. Israel did not occupy these disputed lands until they were attacked in 1967. Now they hold onto them since they have been used as staging grounds for invasions of Israel. I think we need to look at the Palestinian Constitution, which denounces any Jewish state, as the reason why peace is unattainable.