Responsibility for the terrorist suicide murders in Tel Aviv lies with two British citizens, we now know. More evidence that it’s increasingly impossible to separate one brand of Islamist terror (al Qaeda) from others (Hamas):
It was not disclosed if the men also held Palestinian identity cards, of if they used their British passports to cross the boundary fence enclosing Gaza. Hamas and Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a group linked to the Fatah faction of Mr. Abbas and Yasir Arafat, claimed responsibility for the attack.
So who were these people really? How much did Arafat know? And how credible is Abbas’ claim to renounce violence? We’ll soon find out. His original statement, as even Bill Safire concedes today, amounted to “brave words,” undermined by savage violence. Abbas, for Israel’s sake as well as the Palestinians’, should surely be given a fair chance to exert new authority. On this issue, like a few others, president Bush will soon have to show his real intentions. One “Israeli official” tells James Bennet of the New York Times that
Mr. Bush was acting on the plan because he ‘owed it to Tony Blair,’ Britain’s prime minister. This official said Mr. Bush also wanted to ‘to encourage the new Palestinian government.’
But mere introduction of the plan won’t be enough to please Blair, will it? Count me at worst as an incurable optimist. And at best, as someone who symathizes with what these guys are saying.
ONE BY ONE: The president slowly does the job we most need him for. The number of terrorist attacks went down to 199 in 2002, from 355 in 2001. No reason for any complacency. But surely some credit where it’s due.
LOSERS, SQUARED: John Major defends Prince Charles. That’s like Walter Mondale supporting Al Gore. But in fact, Major’s argument, when it isn’t simply banal, is almost touching. And, largely, right.
JERRY SPRINGER, THE OPERA: Only in London, I suppose. Money review quote:
I never thought I would find a man who wants to poo in his pants touching, but somehow, in this gaudy context, it is. And the first act finale, featuring a chorus of tap-dancing Ku Klux Klansmen is a riot of bad taste worthy of Mel Brooks. The level of energy and invention dips in the second half, when Jerry finds himself in hell and is required to settle the differences between God and the Devil under pain of punishment too horrible to describe in a family newspaper. The jokes aren’t as funny, and I found myself coming over a touch prudish about the blasphemy. But this is a show designed to provoke as well as entertain, and the climactic deus ex machina appearance of God is a real coup de theatre, as is the grand finale, in which the whole cast reappear as Jerry Springer clones.
Jerry Springer clones? Tap dancing KKKers? Book me a flight.
WHERE ARE THEY? Does it matter that we haven’t yet found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? The answer is obviously: no. Would it matter if we never find such evidence? The answer, equally obviously, is: yes. As regular readers will have noticed, I experienced an evolution in my views about this war. I never stinted in supporting it, but my concern about weapons of mass destruction was eventually overtaken by my moral concern with the sheer evil of Saddam’s regime. But that doesn’t mean the WMDs are irrelevant, as Tom Friedman weirdly suggested. I don’t believe the administration lied. I don’t believe Tony Blair lied. But equally, the notion that a few missiles with “chemicals” written on them will some day be found under a rock – and that this kind of thing is necessary for the war to be justified – is silly. We’re talking about a whole system designed to give Saddam a biological and chemical capacity. We need to interview scientists, piece together documents, investigate sites that might have been destroyed to remove evidence just before the war, and so on. This takes time and expertise and patience. I’m happy to wait until a real assessment is possible and credible evidence put together into a coherent whole. Then, we’ll see. But it’s way too soon for some to start crowing that the threat was a sham or a hype. We have as yet no solid evidence for that either.
MAY DAY: Time to celebrate global capitalism, “humanity’s most benign creation.” Anatole Kaletsky rightly blames Europe and Japan for global economic blues, but remains optimistic. I hope he’s right.
ON THE ROAD: Grueling but rewarding speaking tour here. Home later today. I have to say that amid all the emotionally draining debates about homosexuality, religion, and politics, one thing keeps me going: the next generation. The gay students today – I met a bunch at Boston College and the University of Delaware – are coming out at much younger ages than in the past. They have a self-confidence and composure that I never had in college, let alone high school. (I met one today who told his parents at the age of seven.) They span the gamut politically – although more than you might expect are passionate conservatives and Republicans (and tell me how wounded they were by their party’s response to the Santorum affair). But they seem to take it in stride. They know who they are. They appear to have good relationships with their straight peers; and even in their occasional struggles, know they own the future. It’s strange to be in the middle of such social change. I’ll never know what it’s like to grow up in a more accepting age, not to have the torments that so many in my generation went through (let alone the poor souls older then me), but the results in these youngsters’ lives are truly inspiring. They lift me up and cheer me on. With each generation, the psychological damage and pain recedes a little. And the pursuit of happiness begins again. Some of these kids think of me as a mentor. How do I tell them that they are actually mentors to me?
The Dish 