I refer to Bil Kor's letter , 'Arafat should step down'. I was quite caught up by his statement that regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict he used to think like me, but obviously he has now changed his mind.

What an amazing surprise and coincidence, because I used to think like him, inclining to favour Israel. But since Ariel Sharon came on to the scene, I too have changed my mind. Hmm, a bit of yin and yang in action here, but more of this later.

Kor claimed that the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas and the intended one by Ahmad Qurei should leave me in no doubt as to who has been responsible for the impasse in the that region. With that, in one fell swoop, he exonerates the lovely and peaceful Ariel Sharon, also known as the butcher of Shatila, Sabra and Palestine, from the inhumanities his government had perpetuated.

Maybe Bil Kor ought to talk to those Israeli pilots and soldiers, the so-called 'refuseniks'. The Israeli operational policies and directives towards the Palestinians must be so repugnant, in order for these elites of the Israeli military to baulk at implementing them.

I am not quite sure how he derived from Mahmoud Abbas' resignation that Arafat, and not Sharon, had been the war-monger. What about the possibility of internal Palestinian Liberation Organisation power struggle? Does this fact of political life automatically make Ariel Sharon innocent as a new born lamb?

I wasn't surprised that Bil Kor neglected to mention that Abbas' resignation occurred after increasing violence committed by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank and Gaza. Of course, Kor conveniently forgot that Abbas blamed the United States and Israel for his decision to resign.

Abbas was so frustrated by the lack of support from the US, who did nothing to make Israel comply with the 'road map' to peace. He realised with a sense of utter hopelessness that to the US, only Israeli interests mattered. Under Ariel Sharon, it is lebensraum!

Abbas' position was continuously undermined by Sharon's directives to continue the assassinations and arrests of Palestinian leaders, even though a cease-fire had been in place. Sharon was deliberately sabotaging the American-sponsored road map.

Sharon was equally worried that Abbas would get too close to Bush and enjoy his confidence. Sharon couldn't have a PLO leader that has the ears of Bush. Absolutely not! He wanted to

be the only one from that region able to whisper in Bush's ears, particularly the "T" word, which was guaranteed to send Bush and most American officials into a frenzy.

Yet, every Israeli atrocity and acts of terrorism had received at most only the lightest tap from the US on Sharon's wrist.

Kor claimed that successive Israeli governments have tried to resolve the conflict with Yasser Arafat but failed. But the failure has been his, in not mentioning that in 1993, the PLO and Israeli had reached an accord resulting in the Oslo Agreement. This would have permitted the Palestinians to become self-governing within a five-year period.

Naturally he conveniently declined to mention that Arafat and Yitzak Rabin both signed the historic 'Declaration of Principles'. Guess what then happened to poor Rabin? Guess who killed him? Yes, Kor, t'was a right wing Jew!

Then again, Kor failed to mention the negotiations between Ehud Barak and Arafat, which though didn't resulted in a concrete agreement, was at least then ongoing. Arafat then couldn't accept Barak's offer because that would result in 85 per cent of Israeli settlers remaining on

Palestinian land and under Israeli control. Israel would also have control over all border crossings into the Palestinian state.

Whatever land that was left for the Palestinians would be further carved up by the Israeli. It makes it impossible for a contiguous Palestinian state. What was offered was peace then under Israeli terms. But had negotiations been allowed to continue, who knows what could have been the result?

Which bring us to what I mentioned in my previous letter , about the sabotaging act of Ariel Sharon. Again, Kor ignored this fact, that of the extremely provocative visit to Temple Mount or Haram al Sharif.

What then about the incidents towards the end of March 2002, when Israeli troops invaded Palestinian West Bank territories, where these invaders destroyed several Palestinian cities and refugee camps? Oh, don't forget the Israeli military siege of Arafat in Ramallah, trapping him in a ghetto-like environment? Sharon has a strange penchant for Nazi-SS behaviour and tactics!

I thought Kor may wish to know that the frequent and prolonged Israeli imposed 24-hour curfews on West Bank towns had resulted in hardship and medical crisis for young Palestinian children who suffered from, among many ailments, chronic malnutrition.

What was terrible and unscrupulous about Bil Kor's letter was that he took a leaf from the Bush

Administration's book of deceptions, and attempted to link the Sept 11 incidents to Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Then he went on to declare that no Muslim government condemned suicide bombings. What utter nonsense!

No decent person would support killing of innocent civilians, whether by suicide bombing or F-16 jet bombing or helicopter gunship machine-gunning and rocketing. Unfortunately, the cycle of violence continues as per the biblical "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".

Undoubtedly Kor would have heard of a bloke named Menachem Begin. He of the Irgun Zvai Leumi fame who was a terrorist to the British but a hero to the Jews (as Arafat is a terrorist to the Jews, but a hero to the Arabs), who bombed the King David Hotel in July 1945, causing the death of 91 people and wounding 45 others, many of whom were innocent civilians.

A Palestinian Jew, Yitshag ben Ami admitted to the British that the bombing was a pre-meditated massacre approved at the highest level of the Jewish authority. Well, Mr Begin went to be PM of Israel and even won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. To the Jews, he was a

freedom fighter for the State of Israel. But to others, he was a terrorist of the worst kind.

I certainly would not recommend Arafat for the Peace Prize, but what is the difference between him and Menachem Begin?

The flag of Israel displays the Star of David, its greatest biblical hero. In 1948 and 1967 Israel

demonstrated to the world what a David it was, defeating many Arab States, together the apparent Goliath of the region at that time. Like others, I marveled at and admired the underdog.

But many people forget that David, the shepherd boy grew up to be a very nasty king. Though beloved of God, he immediate broke a couple of His most important commandments, coveting his general's wife Bathsheba, seducing her when the husband Uriah was away, and then sending the unfortunate man to be deliberately killed in battle because David couldn't hide the fruit of his adultery.

Yes, the Star of David is the symbol of this wicked king, who would covet his neighbour's property and then kill him to keep it.