To Bolster Palestinian Moderates, Let Abbas Win at the UN
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Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- A few weeks ago, the U.S. and Israelwere painting Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian factionFatah, as an extremist for vowing to ask the United Nations onNov. 29 to grant Palestine status as a nonmember observer state.
In light of the violence just unleashed on Israel byFatah’s rival, Hamas, it now seems a relatively mild maneuver.Growing popular support for Hamas’s belligerence makes Abbas anincreasingly rare moderate, whose legitimacy needs to bebolstered by the international community.