In his letter Eric Mudasi repeats the same old colonialist argument that just because the Palestine economy is "not worth participating in" and just because the Arabs have allegedly not achieved or produced anything, therefore the state of Palestine has no right to exist.

He also reveals his sympathy for Israel by effectively saying that a Palestinian state is "inconceivable" because it "is a time bomb under Israel.

Furthermore Mudasi distorts the facts of the case by making out that Arab countries are using the Palestine issue to divert the attention of their respective people from domestic issues in their own countries.

Palestine was forcibly partitioned in 1947 by the imperialist powers to create the state of Israel without the consent of the Palestinian people and in 1948 Israel captured larger swaths of land from the Palestinians and that has been a source of conflict ever since and naturally, under such conditions, what opportunities are there for the Palestinians to build up their economy.

Anyway, whether or not the Arabs have taken the path of industrialisation which we in Asia believe is the development model is entirely their business and theirs' alone and under no circumstances does it give anyone the right to violate their sovereignty just because they have chosen not to become screwdriver workshops for western-imperialist multinationals.

It's like if someone bought the plot of land next to my house, demolished the house and decided to leave the land vacant, nobody has a right to say that he has no right to own that piece of land.

His only responsibility is to ensure that his piece of land does not become a breeding ground for mosquitos or snakes which pose a health hazard and danger to the neighbourhood.

Mudali's argument is no different from the argument of "the white mans' burden" to colonise countries and forcibly develop them.

As for Arabs "not developing anything," well one of the reasons the US-imperialists want to invade Iraq is because it is allegedly "developing biological weapons and weapons of mass destruction."

Also, Iraq has been able to develop its own missiles which proves that the Arabs can produce sophisticated things.

However, Mudali is right that our leaders speak about the Palestinian issue in terms of "Jews versus Arabs" which is totally wrong.

Back in the 1970's the Arab League office, the Palestine Liberation Organisation representative in London and my Arab friends always emphasised that it is an issue of Zionism (a fascist and imperialist ideology similar to Nazism) versus the Palestinians and Arabs.

Furthermore, for a very long time, our newspapers and media have failed to explain the truth about the history of Zionism, the state of Israel and the Palestinian issue and it makes me wonder whether they deliberately want to confuse the issue in the minds of Malaysian readers, since I have learned more about Zionism and the Palestine issue from my Arab friends, the Arab League, the PLO and pro-Palestine western sources than I ever have from our local media, including malaysiakini.

Neither is it one of Judaism versus Islam nor any other religion versus Islam. For instance PLO chairman Yasser Arafat is Muslim while his wife is Christian, while in the 1970's the leader of the more aggressive Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was Dr. George Habash — a Christian.

It should also be noted that Iraq's Saddam Hussein is a Muslim while its Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz is a Christian, while Michel Aflaq, the founder of the Ba'ath Party is a Christian.

Well the Arabs enjoy much more religious freedom than some Malaysians do.

The Israeli Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people must be roundly condemned along with US-imperialist backing of Zionist Israel as a client state over 40 years, mainly to protect its oil and geostrategic interests in the region.

I recommend readers to visit the following sites to gain a better understanding about the Palestinian issue which we can't get from Malaysian politicians and the Malaysian media.

Palestine Liberation Organisation, Negotions Affairs Department

Arab net — gives a good overview of the history of Palestinians and Jews from Biblical times until the present day.

Voices of Palestine — a pro-Palestinian site but unfortunately rather heavy with graphics.

Free Palestine — a liberal, pro-Palestine site.

International Action Centre — a left-wing site with articles on Palestine, Afghanistan and so on.

Letter from Israel by Ran HaCohen — a Jewish columnist with sympathies for Palestine

Middle East Research and Information Project — mildly pro-Palestine site.

Justin Raimondo Column — Libertarian-rightist columnist who's sympathetic to the Palestinians, anti-Israel and anti-neoconservative rightists.