MAKING THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME...OKAY, RUN AT ALL...:

Can Hamas change course?: Some in the group want to focus more on politics and less on attacking Israel. (Ilene R. Prusher, 10/04/05, The Christian Science Monitor)

The results in Beitunia are remarkable in several ways. Even though Fatah, led by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, won the largest number of seats in about half of the 104 municipal councils that were being chosen last week, in many places, the wins were not enough for Fatah to claim leadership. That resembles the situation next door, in Israel's multiparty system, in which neither of the two main parties has won a majority in recent years, and must go into negotiations with small parties who suddenly hold the power to make or break a coalition.

What's more, Shalabi represents what could be the face of Hamas's future. At least in some camps, there's an attempt to reshape Hamas, which won 13 municipalities in the vote, as a Muslim political party and less of a guerrilla group. But the different faces of Hamas - ranging from technocrats like Shalabi to a military wing that continues to attack Israelis - may make Hamas as political party a hard sell to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't matter--with nationhood in hand, both Fatah and Hamas have to convince Palestinians they can govern effectively.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 3, 2005 6:20 PM