PALESTINE'S PRAGMATIC MOMENT:

P.L.O. Picks Abbas, a Pragmatist, as Followers Mourn Arafat (JAMES BENNET and STEVEN ERLANGER, 11/12/04, NY Times)

As Palestinians absorbed the news that the wily survivor had at last succumbed, the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization replaced Mr. Arafat as chairman with Mahmoud Abbas, a pragmatic negotiator and a critic of the intifada, the armed uprising against Israel. [...]

Mr. Arafat's post as president of the Palestinian Authority, created by the Oslo Accords to govern Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, devolved automatically under law upon Rawhi Fattouh, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament.

Mr. Fattouh, a minor figure with no political base, is in theory to hold the post for 60 days, by which time the Palestinians are to carry out national elections for a new president.

"The era of the symbol is over," said Mohammed Dahlan, a leading member of a forty-something cadre of politicians who chafed at Mr. Arafat's rule.

"Even though it's a very sad day because we lost Abu Ammar," he added in an interview here Thursday night, "it is a great day in the Palestinian history, because we have emphasized today the implementation of the law as it is written."

We'll need to support Mr. Abbas more forcefully than we did when we first foisted him upon Arafat.

MORE:
Bush May Call for Major European Role in Post-Arafat Peace Effort (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 11/12/04, NY Times)

President Bush is expected to call on Europe to assume a key role in helping the new Palestinian leadership build and support institutions and prepare for negotiations with Israel, American and European diplomats said Thursday.

Such a call would represent a notable increase in cooperation between Washington and its European allies over the Middle East. An issue of contention until now had been the Europeans' continued communications with Yasir Arafat, who died early Thursday. The United States, along with Israel, believed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be solved only without the involvement of Mr. Arafat.

The new role for Europe is likely to be discussed publicly on Friday after the president's meetings with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the diplomats said.

Also on the agenda is a possible American endorsement of a conference that Mr. Blair wants to hold on the Middle East early next year in Britain, the diplomats said.

Another goal of some Europeans is to gain American support for jumping over the narrow issues of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and going directly to discussing the boundaries of a Palestinian state. Many in Europe also want Mr. Bush to appoint a special envoy for the Middle East.

It wouldn't be surprising if he gives Mr. Blair the envoy he seeks. Very clever though to stick the Euros with responsibility for Palestine.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 12, 2004 8:02 AM