To respond to Leila Rodriguezi ("Nations and states are different things," Jan. 18), let me first put the letter in context. It is in response to a letter, which was in response to a letter that referred to Israel as the "evil Zionist regime."

Now lets define some terms; evil means not appreciated, and Zionism is a movement supportive of the right of the Jewish people/nation/ethnicity/religion -- the Hebrew word is ahm -- to a state in their ancestral homeland. To deny that right to the Jewish ahm, while it is realized across the community of nations is anti-Semitism. This is an issue separate from support for any single policy of the Sharon administration. It is true, that as a democratic state, the Israeli government's policies are often criticized by Israelis, and that democratic government, while representing the will of its constituents, is not the same as its constituency.

However, opposition to Sharon's policies is fundamentally different from the attack on Zionism, which is found in Yousuf's original article. This is to question the right of the administration recognized as legitimate by the Israeli people and the international community, to exist. To assail Zionism is to attack the very right of the Jewish ahm to collectively realize statehood, and that is unmistakably anti-Semitic, as is any attack on the Israeli right to self-defense.