[dennisw]

What a piece of crud. I could only read 3 paragraphs and skimmed the rest. His writing sytle is sneaky and repellent. I just can't stand Said. This pretentious crap prolly goes over well in Egypt where Al-Aharam is published.

[beckett]

Yeah -- well of course the stuff is impossible to read Dennis, but the point is Said --- an intransigent enemy of Israel and leftwing dissembler of decades standing --- a) condemns the bombings in strong language, b) blames the Palestinian leadership for the condition of the Palestinian people and calls for new leadership, abandoning Arafat, and c) acknowledges that any solution includes a State of Israel within secure borders. I thought it was worth pointing out because it came from the reprehensible Said, indicating that even among Israel's most hated enemies the intellectual justifications for opposition to Israel are in a state of flux. For that reason, Israel's supporters should be somewhat encouraged.