The Seemingly Endless Pursuit of Palestinian Unity

"Negotiations over a Palestinian unity government have become bogged down over who will serve as interior minister with control over security services, sources close to the talks said on Tuesday...."

- From Reuters, "Palestinian unity talks snag on key security post"

I think I've seen a variation on this headline a couple hundred times over the past few years. Maybe if the media quit reporting on Palestinian politics, they'd finally sort things out.

Now, prospective Palestinian Unity is "snagged" and "bogged down." Maybe Mel Brooks should do a movie on Palestinian politics and Palestinian-Israeli relations. Is Mel Brooks still alive? ( I guess he is... According to Wikipedia, at least, the new information source of record. ) The situation is desperate for some humor.

I recently saw a photo on the cover of the NY Times of a Palestinian throwing a stone out of a slingshot at Israeli troops. I know they've been doing this for years, but... It's symbolic of the nightmare they must live in that they're so angry due to the oppression they've endured under Israeli apartheid that they just want to throw anything at them, without much reflection about the power disparity there. A thrown stone will probably do nothing.

But what can they do that's constructive when the Israeli military is in their front yard? When their own political system suffers from internal conflicts?

The U.S. - and President Bush, in need of some positive foreign policy successes - really should move aggressively to repair the situation between the Palestinian factions, and Israel and the Palestinians. We've got the money and influence to do so.