Abbas or bust

[bemildred]

From the Israeli government's perspective, Abbas's comments at his public appearances are harsh and sometimes strike too hard. He emphasizes the issue of Jerusalem and refugee rights, calls for prisoner release, and even praises shahids (martyrs).

In the Palestinian eyes, the picture is different, even opposite. Palestinian caricaturist Umiya Juha of the PA mouthpiece Al Hayyat Al Jedida last week drew three cartoons presenting Abbas in the eye of the onlooker. In the first, in Israeli eyes, Abbas looks like a miserable dwarf next to the huge figure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In the second, he is seen through the eyes of Arab rulers, and he is carrying a sign announcing he was chosen by a 99.999 percent majority and a spiked club. In the eyes of some of the Palestinian public, he is seen as a dead-ringer for Arafat, wearing a black and white kaffiyeh. In the fourth drawing, the most important, Juha explains who the real Abbas is - and she draws him as an old grandmother knitting from colored balls of yarn.

No one would have dared present Arafat that way. But it appears this is really Abbas' image in the Palestinian street. The impression from everything written and said about him in the Palestinian public is that he's a good man, affable and a compromiser.

An East Jerusalem journalist who saw a photo of Abbas with the caption "Welcome the Hero" reported that his family members simply burst out laughing. Abbas a hero? Nonetheless, they will elect him. Why? "Because the whole world wants him; America, the Arab countries, Europe, Israel - you want him, you can have him, and we'll see what happens," he says.

Haaretz

[The Magistrate]

1. Three Cheers For Democracy, Eh, My Friend?

"Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage."

[bemildred]

2. A stirring sight it is, Sir.

I cannot say it fills me with optimism, though.