I feel frustrated when people who do not know the facts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict air their opinions recklessly as facts.

They muddy the waters for people seeking to clearly see the truth. I feel obligated to write after reading one too many deceitful letters.The truth is that Jews have lived in the land that is now the state of Israel prior to, and after, the Romans destroyed their Jewish state in 70 AD. When the British Mandate in the land came to an end in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly left the two independent states they created (by equally splitting up the land on a demographic basis) fend for themselves.

One of the states was Jewish, and the other was Arab. The Arab League and the Palestinian leadership rejected this plan, and responded by going to war against Israel. The Arab League promised to help conquer the Jewish State so the Palestinians could have it.

Israel successfully defended herself, obtaining land in the process. Jordan and Egypt (who were part of the Arab League) took the remainder of the Palestinians appointed land (the West Bank and Gaza Strip). Again, Israel was forced to fight a defensive war in 1967…and in doing so, gained the West Bank and Gaza.

These facts assert that the Palestinians were denied their own homeland by their own leadership and by the countries that made up the Arab League…not by the Jews.Sarah SorokenCSUS student