Repercussions and power plays

Heh -- sucks to be you Mahmoud Abbas... The boat with all of the shiny new toys from your buddies in Syria gets taken away so you don't get to rule anymore.

Mahmoud Abbas to step down as Palestinian leader
He expressed frustration over shifts in the White House's policy on Israeli settlement construction as he told colleagues he was not prepared to seek a second term in elections in January.

The loss of one of the Palestinian hierarchy's most conciliatory voices left President Barack Obama's Middle East peacekeeping efforts floundering and raised questions about his handling of negotiations in the region.

Critics say the US president has fatally undermined Mr Abbas by conceding political ground to Israel and pressuring him into taking unpopular decisions.

It amazes me that the citizens of the USA and the EU still buy the multiple lines of crap that they continue to pump out of there. Abbas is no more a moderate than my Great Aunt Sally was Pope. Abbas is playing the moderate to try to get concessions out of the USA and to get the USA to pressure Israel. The Palestinians are not even from Palestine -- the are Hashamite Jordanians and are being used as pawns by at first the Soviets (Yasser Arafat was a Soviet Apperatchick placed there by Moscow). Abbass' 'resignation' is just clearing the decks so a 'hardliner' can appear to rule the palestinians. We need to remember that Israel has been our strong friend for the last 60 years and that they are the only freedom-loving democracy in that part of the world.