What's New?

There are conflicting stories over whether Palestinian Chairman Yasir Arafat will step down or cede power prior to new elections at the end of the year. Nothing new there. If there is one positive thing you can say about the man, it is that he knows how to survive in the worst possible situations (even when they are of his own doing).

Amnesty International came out with notice condemning the Palestinian suicide bombings of Israelis. It stated that the Palestinians do not have a right to kill innocent civilians regardless of whatever wrongs they felt were committed by the Israeli government. Hamas leaders quickly condemned Amnesty International and called it a puppet of the US and Israeli interests. Hamas said, in effect, that all Israelis are worthy targets because of the compulsory military service and therefore all Israelis are targets. That tells you something about Hamas - they love Amnesty International when it was trumpeting the mass casualties and massacre that the Palestinians claimed occurred in Jenin, but Amnesty saw the light when all the egg on its face from that situation (there never was a massacre, and the Palestinian casualties were 10 times less than the Palestinians claimed.

I guess Amnesty International finally realized that the Palestinians can cry wolf so many times. Maybe it is time that the European Union did the same.

There are many competing agendas in the world when dealing with the Middle East - oil, humanitarian, and the current war on terrorism sparked by Islamic fundamentalism (of course, that last part is silenced in favor of a more general war on terror to satisfy those who would rather bury their heads in the sand and not realize the widespead nature of the threat of a hijacked religion in inspiring the disillusioned).

Maybe we can get the focus on the true nature of the threat in the Middle East and when that happens, meaningful steps can be taken to cool down the region's hostilities. Remember, before there was a state of Israel, the Arab world was quickly slipping behind the rest of the world in technological advancement. That pace has only quickened, and the haves are leaving the have nots behind. This is not about poverty - the key leaders of the terrorists and their followers are mainly middle class. It is about a failed vision for the future. That future must be changed from within if possible. The means must be given to make that happen, but only if we confront the reality.

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