Well, it's the Palestinian presidential election on Sunday. When Abu Mazen wins, will it make any kind of difference, or do we need a change in the Israeli and/or American leadership if we're ever gonna see Palestinian liberation? Any opinions on Abu Mazen's suitability for the role?

That kind of depends on what kind of difference you're looking for. Administration among the Palestinians may improve; but little else will. Dubya and Sharon are both dedicated to policies that will prevent the Palestinians from getting very far towards economic self sufficiency or political autonomy; so they won't get very far.

One thing I noticed Abu Mazen promising was that he'd reign in the violent activities of Hamas and PIJ. I was wondering how exactly he expected to acheive this - they don't take orders from Fatah or the PA, and Abbas would be in no position to offer them any concessions in exchange for a ceasefire; only Israel could do that. What was the point of the promise? Does he hope it would make the Sharonistas open to negotiations with him. Or does he think it'll undermine the 'no-one to talk to' myth in the Israeli public conciousness, and so increase popular pressure on the government. I'm confused.

Well, shock and amazement - exit polls put Abu Mazen well ahead.

In potentially promising news, other than a few hundred people being turned away in East Jerusalem and a bit of a kerfuffle in Ramallah, the monitors say the election was mostly fair and the Israelis let most people vote. Also, Hamas has said they're willing to enter into talks with the new President. Whether they're serious about negotiations or not we'll have to wait and see.