In a letter from Gaza, Time describes the upcoming Palestinian presidential election as 'the best chance in years to chart a new direction, away from Arafat's legacy of conflict and misrule toward a more prosperous, peaceful future.' The likely victor, Mahmoud Abbas, has called for an end to violence and represents, to many Palestinians, an opportunity to overcome the enormous economic setbacks of the intifada period. Less hopeful, U.S. News says that Abbas is 'no savior,' a weak leader who cannot command the militias he plans to disarm, and whose authority has already been compromised by widespread belief that he is a Western collaborator whose victory is inevitable only because Israel and America have made it so. Newsweek compares Abbas to the late Egyption president Anwar Sadat, both 'avuncular deputies of charismatic leaders' facing 'internal challenges to their power' and committed to fast, decisive action to cement control."Abbas = Sadat? That's a meme that might have legs.
Let's just hope Abbas wants a lasting peace, and not a face-saving war.
