Virtually Unnoticed...

Charles Johnson points out quite nobly that the media has been for the large part ignorant of rioting that had gone on for at least three days since Monday. The rioting had been in Windsor, England, and the rioters are native Anglo gangs versus local Muslim gangs. People are pointing fingers at both sides, as seen in the commentary following the thisislondon article to which Charles Johnson links. But the important thing to note is that this is not the first violent activity by the same people in that area; hostilities had been brewing for some time and have erupted before for roughly the same reasons and under roughly the same circumstances.

But that's not the only form of ignorance gone unnoticed by some: Arutz Sheva had explored Abbas' actions following Condi's visit to that area. Normally, we'd view him as the more moderate guy in the Palestinian Authority who is our best chance, our biggest hope for the two-state solution.

What were his words to Condi?
Oh, yes: he would 'fire Hamas' if it still refused to acknowledge Israel as a sovereign state.

What were his words to Palestinians (read: his constituents) on PA TV?
Oh, yes: "It is not required of Hamas, or of Fatah, or of the Popular Front to recognize Israel...I do not demand of Hamas nor any other to recognize Israel, but from the government that works with Israelis in day to day life, yes."

Is this guy nuts? Hamas was elected by the people.
(Note that AS accurately portrayed Fatah as a terrorist organization.)

Always reading beyond the headlines,
- The Samaritan

(The full report on Abbas' doublespeak is Palestinian Media Watch's Oct. 5 Bulletin.)