Governments all over the Middle East blame Israel as the chief obstacle to peace in the region. They say that no peace can be achieved in the Middle East until the Palestinian issue is resolved. Because of this, we in the West assume that these governments are sympathetic to the Palestinians. We know they hate Israel, but we assume they are on the side of the Palestinians. But, reading things like this, make you wonder. They're not the pan-Arabists they claim to be. That first link involves Saudi Arabia, but there are similar stories from Lebanon here and here.

Yasser Arafat himself has been expelled from Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon (twice, I think). Following expulsion, he set up shop in both Algeria and Tunisia, before returning to Israel. Egypt's Mubarak has said he is not "pro-Arafat." In 1995, Libya expelled a reported 30,000 Palestinians.

The Arab countries of the Middle East do not care what happens to the Palestinians and we shouldn't assume that they do. All they care about is destroying Israel and blaming them and the U.S. for all their problems.

Arafat is sick now and could be in his final days. I hope he is. It'll be one less terrorist dictator we have to deal with and maybe it will lead to peace for Israel.