That Was Then

Well, that was then. Since those hopeful moments, the Ogre of the Middle Easte has cut off contact with Abbas and the business as usual has returned. Of course, no one here expects that the Cretin in Chief will change his position and press the Government of Israel to at least try. So back to the routine...

"Whereas Mr Bush and Mr Sharon had stopped talking to Arafat, blaming his inadequate efforts to rein in the militants, they have signalled their willingness to negotiate with Mr Abbas. He has long been among the most moderate of Palestinian leaders. He resigned as Arafat’s prime minister in 2003 partly because of his boss’s failure to reform the PA’s faction-ridden security services. His election is widely seen as a chance to revive the moribund Middle East peace process. Shimon Peres, the leader of Israel’s Labour Party (who was sworn in as Israel's vice-premier after his party joined Likud in a new national-unity government on Monday evening) said: “A moderate man was elected, an intelligent man, an experienced man. Let’s give him a chance…There is a new legitimate Palestinian leadership whose leaders definitely are against terror and war.”

The Palestinian presidential vote