The Palestinians' good ol' boy

".......Fayad is held in high regard in Washington and is subject to considerable coddling. While his accent reveals his Middle Eastern origins, he speaks rich and fluent English and dresses like an average American official......

During his years at the University of Texas, Fayad picked up the language of America's South, the lingo spoken in President Bush's immediate surroundings. Fayad knows the names of the local football teams and he knows how to give the neo-conservatives the feeling that they are talking to a good ol' boy. His service at World Bank headquarters in Washington during the presidency of Bush senior was a preparatory course in southern-Republican psychology.....

In an interview to Haaretz last Sunday, the day before Bush's speech (about whose main points the Palestinian prime minister had been informed of in advance), Fayad proved to the Americans that he is someone they can trust. Every attempt to extract from him a word of criticism of the American helplessness, or even the slightest reservation, was met with a forgiving smile....

The Saudis, the Egyptians and the Jordanians consider the transitional Palestinian government as an opportunity to stop the Islamic lava current that began with the victory of Sunni Hamas in the elections of January 2006 and continued in the major achievement by Shi'ite Hezbollah during last summer's war. But it is a very long road from here to sending forces to the territories.

.....The impression that has been formed in the Arab world, and in the rest of the world, is that Fayad, a person who gets things done but lacks a political base, is Bush's baby and his candidate to succeed Abbas ahead of the coming presidential elections....

....Ever since Hamas' takeover of the Strip and the expulsion of Muhammad Dahlan's loyalists, the sounds of shooting can no longer be heard and the sight of armed men in the streets has become rare. Although the Gaza Strip is indeed under siege, unlike their brethren in the West Bank, the inhabitants of Gaza have been exempt from the punishments of Israel Defense Forces soldiers and the Jewish settlers ever since Israel left the territory two years ago.....

....For its part, the West Bank government and the Arab League are selling the children illusions of "a diplomatic horizon." And, indeed, this week, too, Abbas emerged from a meeting with Olmert without so much as a hint of any diplomatic news. On the one hand, Olmert is refusing to help Abbas show the Palestinians that Fatah's attitude toward Israel promises a better future than the rules enforced by the rivals from Hamas. On the other hand, Olmert is not providing Abbas with ammunition that will help him prove his thesis. And still, the prime minister expects Abbas to overcome Hamas empty-handed, to buy his public's affection and not to even think about another unity government......

.....He expects Olmert to replace the bear hug with a fine embrace, by, for example, dismantling all the roadblocks within the West Bank. And if that is too difficult, then at least the start of negotiations on a permanent status agreement. And if even this request is too much, Olmert could at least evacuate two or three outposts....."