* Former PA media advisor Samir Rantisi writes in the SF Chronicle that the Palestinians lack a common vision, leadership, and pulls no punches calling the intifada ‘another nakba’:
Even today, the focus seems to be on how to maintain the 4-year-old militant Intifada, a militancy that has not only brought about human tragedies, but in every sense of the word amounts to another nakba (cataclysm) in 50 years of our history.
* Daniel Pipes asks ‘Which way will Abbas go?’
* Joseph Joffe in Foreign Policy invites readers to
Imagine that Israel never existed. Would the economic malaise and political repression that drive angry young men to become suicide bombers vanish? Would the Palestinians have an independent state? Would the United States, freed of its burdensome ally, suddenly find itself beloved throughout the Muslim world? Wishful thinking. Far from creating tensions, Israel actually contains more antagonisms than it causes.
* David Gerstman fisks NY Times and WashPo editorials on the Palestinian elections, with a revealing look back at WashPo comments after Arafat’s election victory in ’96.
* The LA Times followed up on the French ban on Al-Manar. The Hezbollah TV station isn’t the only problematic source of vitriolic broadcasting:
Radio Mediterranee’s owner denied that his Arab-oriented station espoused anti-Semitism. He blasted the government for shutting down Al Manar and alleged the move resulted from pressure by Israel, which he referred to as a “criminal entity” and “the Zionist entity.”
* The Christian Science Monitor notes that Abbas and Israel have different ideas on what it means to move against terror. Already, Mahmoud Abbas says a cease fire leading to an end to terror is sufficient, while Israel maintains that terror groups must be eliminated. But when push comes to shove, which way will world opinion go?
