With the death of uberterrorist Yasser Arafat, the Palestinians have the opportunity to shake off the years of corrupt strongman rule and attempt to follow the Afghanis into a functional democracy. So far, as the Telegraph reports, the Palestinians have not jumped out to an auspicious start:

Fears that the struggle to find a new Palestinian leader could bring bloodshed and instability were confirmed last night when the PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas was caught in a gun battle during a visit to Gaza.

Two people were killed and 10 wounded when fighting broke out as militiamen opposed to the visit confronted the bodyguards of Mr Abbas, who was yesterday named as the dominant Fatah faction's candidate for the "presidency".

The Palestinians have shown no predilection for democracy or due process of law -- they've ruled and been ruled by the gun for decades. Arafat never held another presidential election after his initial "victory" in 1996, and the Palestinians never seriously protested their disenfranchisement. As long as they revel in their murderous anti-Semitism, they're unlikely to embrace democracy, and as long as the fanatics of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah are in control, they're unlikely to get the opportunity.

It's time to quit pretending that the Palestinians are ready for statehood. They need to reject terrorism before any "road map" or other peace plan confer statehood onto the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Otherwise we will only be endorsing another state that, under the Bush Doctrine, will immediately become an enemy in our war on terror.

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The UN is set to issue a report on Iran's nuclear program. For it's part, Iran has announced it will accept the European deal that would result in Iran suspending production of nuclear material. Of course we've heard this before. [Read More]

Tracked on November 15, 2004 6:32 AM