I agree with many of the sentiments expressed in Jimmy McNally '07's column, "Arafat's death may turn tables in Israel-Palestine conflict," in the Nov. 17 issue of The Student. I, too, hope that the passing of Yasser Arafat will lead to more moderate leadership on the Palestinian side and the resumption of negotiations that have been stalled since the outbreak of the current Intifada.

Unlike McNally, however, I believe that the new Palestinian leadership will have to make a concerted effort not merely to avoid "sanctioning" terrorism, but to dismantle the terrorist groups in their midst. Arafat was a lifelong terrorist, and even when he claimed to condemn terrorism, he allowed money intended to help his poverty-stricken people to be funneled off to terrorist groups. During the last years of his leadership, the Palestinian Authority was particularly ineffective at stopping the rise of Hamas and Islamic Jihad as major terrorist organizations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, I found McNally's description of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians to be unfair and biased. McNally claims that "Israel is waging a fanatic campaign to destroy Palestinian homes and replace them with Israeli settlements." In fact, Israel plans to evacuate all of its settlements in the Gaza Strip and several in the West Bank within the coming months. Home demolitions, though unfortunate, occur because Palestinian terrorists hide in many homes close to the border in order to fire weapons at Israeli soldiers and civilians. Though the Israeli army has recorded and disciplined some minor instances of mistreatment at checkpoints, no human rights group has offered evidence to support McNally's claim that Israel is pursuing a "policy of beatings."

Finally, only someone blithely unaware of attitudes in the European press and public would claim, as McNally does, that Israel holds the "moral upper hand" in the eyes of most non-Arab nations. Indeed, while McNally claims that a reduction in U.S. aid to Israel would reduce Israel's prestige among non-Arab nations, there is probably a good amount of evidence to claim that the opposite is true, given current anti-American sentiment around the globe. It would also be interesting to hear how McNally justifies his claim that "anything but blind support for Israel has meant certain political doom on the part of any American president," given that George W. Bush, the most pro-Israeli president in recent history, managed to capture barely more than 30 percent of the national Jewish vote in the Nov. 2 election.

Like McNally, I am optimistic about the creation of an independent Palestinian state that will live alongside and at peace with Israel. However, I also believe that fair and accurate descriptions of the conflict on both sides are important to establishing dialogue and trust between the two parties in order to see a final peace agreement achieved.

Chris Pochon '07