despite being a condition of “the road map,” palestinian prime minister mahmoud abbas said that he will not crack down on palestinian terror organizations such as hamas and islamic jihad out of fear that it will stir a civil war amongst the fractionalized palestinian populace.

israel, on the other hand, has begun withdrawing financial support from its settlements, much to the dismay and virulent anger of its settlers.

in the meantime, the palestinian authority reports that 26 terror attacks have been committed against israel since a unilateral cease-fire began in the region last month, although the attacks were not completely unprovoked.

and on a related subject, here’s an interesting piece from zeek, on the “weird and worrying links between the radical left and islamic right.”

(repost from jakeneck)