I refer to the letter Politics, not language, has divided Malaysians . Actually, it is democracy that is the integrating factor in our society. Whether Barisan Nasional or the opposition, every vote counts so everyone has to be courted irrespective of race.

What divides Malaysians are clearly the language barriers. A suitable choice - a neutral one for inter-racial communication - is no doubt the English language. Even the immediate former prime minister of Malaysia had this vision when he made English compulsory for the teaching of the science and mathematics subjects.

Thus, students in the science stream will be studying six out of eight subjects in English. Sadly however, the present prime minister has now instituted mandatory Arabic language courses for Muslim students which will only unnecessarily burden the Malay students who may be already weak students to begin with.

Even though I am a Muslim bumiputera, I feel that Bahasa Kebangsaan (Malay) should be given the back seat in our education system.. The national language (Bahasa Melayu) can be taught but at a downgraded level - there is no need for classical literature.

What sense does it make for our students to be learning a multitude of languages but when they get employed they find that most of the work is done in English? Not to mention that most textbooks, technical manuals and computer terminology are also in English.

We must be fair to our students. The world's wealthiest nations adopt single language education and this is what we should do as well.

I also wish to comment on the letter Israeli-Palestinian peace won't end Islamic militancy . I agree with this. Just like you can never stop snatch thefts or rape. However, that doesn't mean you should not try to reduce it and of course, if you want to reduce Islamic militancy, the golden rule is to remove the 'root causes'.

Let's look at the Israeli conflict through the eyes of a potential terrorist. He sees Israel occupying Palestinian land and building settlements on it in contravention of international law. Israel refuses to negotiate a lasting peace because peace means returning land it doesn't want to.

Furthermore, the success of the Hizbollah in evicting Israel out of Lebanon proves that Islamic militancy - and not peaceful negotiation - is a more effective tool. So what incentive is there for peace?

At no time has Israel stated that if the Palestinians stop terrorism, they will get their land back. Israel wants both land and peace. The concept of 'suicidal jihad' was born in the Israeli-occupied territories then adopted by al-Qaeda.

September 11, 2001 happened because the Arab-Muslim population embraced 'suicidal jihad', a concept that does not exist in the Quran. Had the Israeli-Palestinian conflict been solved, 'suicidal jihad' would never have come into being and Sept 11 would not have happened.

Now suicidal jihad is being exported beyond the boundaries of Palestine to Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Indonesia and possibly even to Malaysia. In Iraq, suicide bombings have become a daily occurrence.

To make matters worse, the religious edict that Israeli settlers on Palestinian land - including women and children - are to be regarded as legitimate targets has encouraged the killing of children by Muslim groups worldwide such as in Beslan, Russia.

The people of Beslan have Israel to thank for the religious edict which originated from Palestine.

'Suicidal jihad' and the killing of children is the result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If that was not enough, now beheadings have become acceptable in the Muslim world simply because the first Westerner to be beheaded was Daniel Pearl, a Jew.

The world can only hold its breath as we await further horrors to arise from the Arab-Jewish animosity that is poisoning the world.