I would agree with your first point, Guest, 15 Feb 04 - 06:01 PM, were it not for the context in which I first responded to this thread when it was new. That context was that the government of Israel, as well as almost all of the US media, were calling for Arafat to be removed, against the wishes of the Palestinians. And the Israeli government was (and still is) refusing to negotiate with him.

On your second point, no, I do not. But I do think we have an obligation to uphold the principles of democracy. I don't think the US has a right to tell either the Palestinians or the Israelis who their leaders should be (or will be). And I don't think that the government of Israel has that right either.