The Fools Prayer

Dear God, please allow me to continue doing things
the exact same way I have been doing them for the whole of my life
and somehow magically I will get a different result.

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This is directed to anyone who believes that Mahmoud Abbas will somehow be a moderate partner for peace should he win the Palestinian presidency.

As I posted below, Abbas met with and praised several of the more notorious "armed factions" within Palestinian society during the last few days of campaigning. I was ready to cut him some slack as I imagine that as a politician seeking support, he realizes that you draw more flies with sugar than with vinegar.

Then again, if the following represents his true beliefs, peace is a long way off.

The Associated Press news agency said the presidential front-runner had gone even further and vowed to protect the militants from Israeli attacks.

"When we see them, when we meet them, and when they welcome us, we owe them," AP quoted him as saying.

"This debt always is to protect them from assassination, to protect them from killing, and all these things they are subject to by the Israelis."

In my mind there is no difference between these statements and his saying that he supports all attacks on Israelis, soldier or civilian, both inside and outside the occupied territories.

This account from the Jerusalem Post is even more telling:

Abbas and PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Saturday accused Israel of undermining the election campaign by launching a military operation in Khan Yunis. The two called on the US, the European Union and the United Nations to pressure Israel to halt its raid.

Abbas's visit to the Gaza Strip coincided with celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the launching of the first Fatah attack on Israel.

So, they think it's OK to celebrate an unprovoked attack marking the birth of terrorism, but defensive moves by Israel to prevent their citizens from multiple rocket attacks deserves international condemnation.

I imagine the following will go in the peacenik's books as a child's death from the intifada with no distinction as to who caused it.

Stray Kassam rocket kills Palestinian girl in Jabalya