Some Help Understanding Israel This Week (Next Week, You're on Your Own)

I get confused about the Middle East when I quit following the related news stories for a while. I hate getting behind, but there is just too much news too keep up with. Fortunately, I came across a blog entry that has quite a bit of helpful information, including this tidbit about an interesting Palestinian group I hadn't heard much about:

The Palestinian people elected a terrorist organization to lead them and so far, in the territory it controls, Hamas has behaved like a pack of terrorists. But another branch of government, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, and based in Fatah-controlled West Bank, has indicated it is willing to work with Israel and with the world for peace. In fact, they’ve indicated they are ready to take over Gaza.

People from the Middle East tend to have different opinions on these complication Israel-related issues and they agree with each other about as often as your family members agree on politics at Thanksgiving. However, I can tell you that you cannot write off all Palestinians as bloodthirsty villains the way some like to do. Hamas does not represent the whole of these people and many of them are tired of being associated with terrorism.

I recommend you read the article, it's quite enlightening, even though I'm not sure I agree with all of it.