Exciting Times

I haven't been writing on here lately for a few reasons, mostly personal and just a matter of being too busy with school and research. But these are very exciting times for Palestinian politics, with Abbas claiming he won't run again, the polls being delayed, Fayyad pushing for the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, an apparent Fayyad-Dahlan political alliance with the possible exit of Abbas, and Israel going nuts over all of this. Firstly, it's clear that the Israelis are freaking out over the possible loss of their collaborationist Fatah allies, but it's their own fault for pushing the Palestinians too far by not pursuing a peace agreement, continuing settlements, not budging on Jerusalem, etc. They may be able to appease the corrupt leadership, but the people won't accept their current situation, period. I am still curious to see what's going to happen with Abu Mazen. I initially thought the PA might collapse but it appears they have a plan, if he actually vacates the office, which if recent history is any indicator, he won't. Whether or not it was political theater, I am not sure. But this unilateral declaration of statehood seems a good idea to me. Fayyad has it pretty well laid out in his plans and the US and world community opposing it would just be confirmation that they have no interest in peace. The historical narrative has been changing, Israel's crimes are being exposed, and I think the time is almost ripe for the declaration. It's long-overdue, in fact. Israel has warned of "unilateral action" if the state is declared. I say, fuck it, declare the state, let Israel demonstrate they actually look to have all of Palestine for themselves, and have the world community react to Israel reacting violently and oppressively to a peaceful declaration of statehood. No one else has been willing to give the Palestinians credence for the last 100 years, so I guess it's time to take it.