Ah! It's quite refreshing to think about something else. And the Middle East has always been my true passion when it comes to global affairs! I personally am cautiously optimistic about the recent declaration of ceasefire between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Well, more cautious than optimistic, I must say! The Palestiine-Israeli conflict is, without a doubt, THE MOST pressing issue of our times. Not only it is vastly complex in nature than other conflicts around the world, and has outlasted almost all of them, still without a solution in sight, it also has the ability to influence politics far and beyond the Middle East. The euphoria of the Oslo Accords of 1994 has obviously been proven misguided, and the problem arising from deep distrust between the concerned parties still persists, as intricate and as complex as it was 40 years ago. Therefore, by merely siging the declaration of peace, though it is absolutely a positive step, I decline to be excessively hopeful. For one thing, the issues involved are complicated betond imagination, and the road ahead is tremendously difficult. I am also skeptical about Hamas' willingness to go along with the declaration of peace that was signed in Egypt just a couple of days ago. As the last Palestinian elections have indicated, Hamas has a significant clout over the Palestinian people, at least on the local level. Given the fact that they are so popular -- mainly due to their charitable work -- I doubt they would be willing to listen to the Palestinian president, albeit elected with a significant majority, and lay down their arms so easily. I am also regretfully suspicious of Israel's willingness (particularly of Ariel Sharon's) to be remotely lenient on some of the critical issues vis-a-vis their conflict with the Palestinians, namely a. status of the refugees, b. Jerusalem, and c. the creation of a VIABLE Palestinian state. Therfore, the real test ahead for the Palestinian leader will be to first reign in the militancy aspect of Hamas without seemingly creating impedements to their charitable work; and second, after having gained a moral high ground by embracing peaceful approach to the plight of the Palestinians, to convince the international community to put UNBEARABLE pressure on Israel to reconsider some of it's detrimentally (to the peace efforts) ideological stances. Having expressed my caution, however, I must say I am more optimistic about the prospects of peace now than ever because of a single reason: Mahmoud Abbas' passion for peaceful movement. Ever since Mahmoud Abbas (nom de guerre: Abu Mazen) came into the political limelight, he has been an ardent advocate of peaceful movement against the Israelis. He has always held the belief that the INTIFADA (violent uprisings against the Israelis, started in 1988) itself was a huge mistake, and that Palestinians will never be able to achieve their goals by embracing violence as their modus operandi. NOw, by completly discarding the violent approach, I am hopeful that he wuill be able to gain the moral high ground over the Israelis and cast undue pressure on Israel to succumb to some of Palestinians' demands.