I wonder if you have any idea who it is we are dealing with in Abu Mazen. Do you remember the Munich Olympics? Abu Mazen was responsible for the financing of the Munich attack.

Abu Mazen's relationship to Yasser Arafat has been approximately that of Heinrich Himmler to Adolph Hitler.

Abu Mazen is a holocaust denier who authored a book titled: The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement.

Do you believe it is possible that after 30 years as a Jew hating terrorist, Abu Mazen is all of a sudden a moderate who wants peace with Israel?

Give him a chance to do what Kathy? Preach peace while Jews are blown in buses and restaurants? Didn't we have enough of that with Arafat?

What did he ever do to earn the benefit of the doubt, especially when giving him that benefit will likely only mean more Jews will be killed by terrorists?

Linda,

I believe I do understand who Abbas is. I'm not denying anything you wrote up there. He is NOT a good man. I don't believe he is a moderate. I believe he wants peace simply because it would be best for his people and not because he suddenly loves Jews. And I didn't write or imply that anywhere in this post.

What I am saying is that the Israelis have to give the man a chance to get things under control. If Sharon didn't want him in office and wasn't going to deal with him if he did so, Sharon should have said so from the get go. He didn't. Though tentative and extremely hesitant at the possibility of dealing with Abbas, Sharon nevertheless did not pull away from the potential. Abbas needs time to do what he says he's going to do. Undoing all of the damage Arafat wrought is not going to happen overnight. If Abbas doesn't do it, which is not only possible but probable, then cut off ties. Fine. Go right ahead.

If peace is to be obtained, a little faith has to be given, and it has to be given even to people who are not the optimal candidate for the job. The point here is getting a deal done. Do you only want to ever deal with angels? Knowing full well that the angels, despite their goodness, simply can't wrangle a deal? Or are you perhaps interested in doing a deal with the devil if the devil can get the job done? This is the case in every peace deal that has ever been signed. Ask the southern Sudanese if they believe the northerners---who are still led by Omar Bashir, who prosecuted that war since Day One, over twenty years ago---will stop attacking them now that the cease fire has been signed. They're probably pretty doubtful, but they at least have a bit of faith. The only way any peace deal, let alone one between the Israelis and Palestinians, can ever be proved is if the people in charge not only give faith, but return it as well. It seems a bit preemptory on the part of the Israelis to pull their willingness to deal with the man before the man is even---technically speaking---in charge of the whole shebang.

If that attack had happened next week, instead of this one, well, I would think differently on the whole matter. That it happened this week, makes me wonder not only about the intentions of the Israelis, but also about just what Abbas is capabable of getting done and how much support---from all sides---he's going to get in the meanwhile.

Your reply to my comment makes me see that I am jaded about the topic. I want to share your hope and I find it difficult to do so. That is no reason for me to try to shatter someone else's hope and I apologize for giving you a hard time about it. You are right.

Hope and faith are both good things and without them, we are lost.

Regards,
LindaSoG

No biggie, Linda:)

I hope that he lives up to his end of the deal and we can finally have some sort of resolution that allows people to be able to leave their houses without worrying about being killed. That's ultimately what this is all about and it's what I would really like to see happen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but my eyes are wide open:)

Thanks for stopping by.