On this one, Sol, I have to broadly agree with Jack and Carol, and ignore anything posted by any anonymous guest (THEY mostly seem to want to cloud the thinking on this and other threads).

there is yet any hard evidence to link Arafat (note the one R, people) to Hamas. He has consistently opposed them. It is only the likes of the Likud Party who insist he could stop things over which he clearly has NO control. Hamas is a RIVAL for power in the region, and every time Arafat has gotten absolutely nowhere in negotiations his political opposition gains. Isreal has systematically ignored opportunities for progess on the situation based on attacks they know will come, because Hamas knows their attacks will spike the peace process. Which unfortunately they do. Arafat does not want these gullible young Arabs to kill themselves and prolong the suffering.

I have been following this situation for 30 years, and every knowledgeable person I know on the Palestinian question has said, "Arafat is a moderate."

I remember Rabin crying Enough Blood. Enough Blood. It was not the Palestinians who murdered him, and the best chance for peace in my lifetime. It was the people now in power.

I for one am sending money to the refuseniks. I remain firm in supporting those who reach out across the gulf for a way out of this bloodbath.

The rhetoric of the Likud party toward Arabs, freely available in numerous NPR documentaries, can only be likened to -- and I know how strong this is -- to the final solution filth of the Nazional Sozialisten.