Editor, Daily Nexus,

Upon reading Omri Cohen’s letter, (Daily Nexus, “Students Should Know the Facts When Talking About Their Heritage,” Jan. 15) I observed that he made a logical error. Mr. Cohen asserts that Palestine does not exist, and indeed he is right in that there is no independent country known as Palestine. However, Palestine certainly exists as a geographical entity in much the same way as the Middle East does.

Moreover, there is a pseudo-government, which, though not independent, can be thought of as the government of a politically defined territory called Palestine. It is the Palestinian Authority, and its theoretical writ covers much of the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Ramallah certainly falls under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. As such, the conversation between the professor and the student is perfectly legitimate, and does not a priori imply that the sovereign state of Israel should be removed from the map.