I am a little dismayed by Teo's letter . Let me first say that I do not wish Ariel Sharon to be assassinated. His time will come and he will be judged accordingly. However, Teo's facts seem to be distorted as well.

In fact, almost every statement he made, starting with the anti-semitic slant, seems to reek of typical western spin. I would suggest to Teo not to rely solely on the New York Times nor Thomas Freidman. Instead, in this Internet age, why not find alternate points of view, digest them, then make your own decision.

First, Ehud Barak's (who once called the Palestinians 'crocodiles') plan was not as generous as the western media has made it out to be. This is typical western spin that was exaggerated by the fact that the Palestinian leaders, not known for their western eloquence, chose not to use the media to voice their dissatisfaction with the 'generous plan.'

In fact, if you look at the proposed maps, you end up with a kind of disjointed and mangled state that looks eerily the same as the fence route. The Palestinians' travel would have been effectively strangled.

Add to this the fact that Israel wanted complete sovereignty over Jerusalem as well as water rights to the Jordan River - two things no Palestinian leader at any time would agree to - and you have the reasons for rejection of the plan.

Additionally, Ehud Barak, in an op-ed piece in the New York Times on April 14, 2002 , all but stated that the plan would've resulted in Palestine losing all but 17 percent of it's pre-Israel land. Surely Teo read that piece.

Also, the second Intifada was not created by Arafat; it was provoked by Sharon and his 1,000- man police escort at one of the holiest sites to Muslims, Al-Haram Al Sharif. (Perhaps this is where George Bush Jr. got his diplomatic skills.) Surely Teo will remember as I'm sure the New York Times reported this also.

Second, the statement that 'Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East' has been used so much by the West that even Americans, know it's not true. I would ask Teo and any other Christian, Buddhist or Hindu to move to Israel, get permanent residence and see how fast they realise that Israel is a Jewish state, meant for Jews only.

In fact, I'm sure they would feel that Malaysia is a democratic Utopia in comparison. Let's examine how democratic Israel really is. They have no constitution. Non-Jews are restricted in the amount of land they own, while in certain areas, they are not allowed to own any land at all.

The Israeli Supreme Court has acknowledged the use of torture against suspected 'terrorists' and other enemies of the state. If this is a democracy, give me Syria any day.

Thirdly, surely Teo is not talking about the same Thomas Friedman, who wrote around the time of the Iraq War, that France is the Enemy. Or maybe he's talking about the same Thomas Friedman who thinks that if Palestine had a McDonald's, there would be no chaos.

Fortunately, the world is waking up. No longer can the media live by the premise that if they say something often enough, someone will believe it. There are other voices out there. You just have to search for them.