About Time

Well, Arafat's death is official now. Took the Palestinians long enough. The coming days and weeks will be pivotal, as the various sides in the West Bank and Gaza compete for leadership. I think that the most likely outcome is that Hamas emerges as top do in Gaza, while the West Bank is fractured, with some cities Fatah controlled and others Hamas controlled. Eventually I suspect that Hamas will come to win out, although Israeli actions might alter the outcome of this. However, its my belief that if Israel doesn't intervene Hamas will eventually come out at the top. Although it, and the territories themselves, will be the worse for it.