* Relative Calm Watch : Israel’s only dealing with 54 terror alerts, according to the Jerusalem Post.
* Top Ten Media Blunders of 2003
* Good staff-ed in the Washington Times. The upshot: Disengagement is a sea change for Sharon because it highlights an end to ideology of “Greater Israel,” and if the Palestinians would wake up and smell the coffee, they could have a state of their own, even though they blew previous opportunities.
* Khaled Abu Toameh reports that Palestinians Still Side With Saddam:
Saddam Hussein is still seen by some Palestinians as a hero and a symbol of defiance against Israel and the U.S. Saddam’s picture appears at protests against the separation fence, at rallies for Palestinian prisoners, and at funerals of activists. Saddam’s sympathizers can be found in almost all the Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian branch of the dissolved Iraqi Ba’ath Party, known as the Arab Liberation Front (ALF), remains active in several Palestinian cities and villages.
In the past three weeks, the ALF and “Saddam’s friends” have published two paid front-page advertisements in the Palestinian daily al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, condemning the U.S. for apprehending Saddam.
* J Post editorial on Fence-Building Anarchists:
The complaint of the Palestinians and their fellow travelers generally boils down to “it all started when he hit me back.” Want to help the Palestinians? Tell them to stop attacking Israel, and the record shows that Israel will quickly reciprocate by easing its onerous security measures. It is Palestinian terrorism that is building the fence, with the help of its supposed friends.
* Barry Rubin, in Is There an Alternative to Arafat’s Leadership?, says “the bottom line is: Arafat will not make a deal. Therefore, either an alternative to Arafat is found or we will have to out-wait him, in order to achieve peace.”
