 Opinion surveys indicate that most Palestinians (65 percent) still back Fatah, which has been the leading political party for over a decade. Jailed Palestinian politician Marwan Barghuti gets 22 percent, and various smaller candidates, including terrorists, get the remaining 13 percent. This is the problem. Most Palestinians want peace with Israel, if only on economic grounds. But the terrorist groups that Fatah, and other Palestinian leaders, have long refused to oppose, still flourish. Fatah candidate for president, Mahmud Abbas, makes public statements asking the terrorists to stop their attacks, then turns around and praises the terrorists for their attacks. Palestinian popular opinion still supports the terrorists. Palestinians want peace, but they also want terrorist attacks to continue against Israelis. The January 9th elections are apparently not going to change much. While most Palestinians want peace, the Palestinian terrorists have no intention of halting their attacks. |