Palestinians vote

Ok, the elected leaders of Fatah and Hamas might still be secretly trying to oust the Israelis, destroy them, whatever. They might still harbor sympathy for terrorists inclined to blow themselves up in Israeli shopping centers.
But they publicly people can criticize Fatah, now that Arafat is gone, and Hamas is trying to take advantage of that, not by clamping down and blowing things up, but by performing humane acts and participating in the democratic process.

Hamas has set itself up patiently with years of welfare programs for impoverished Palestinians, especially in Gaza, and is poised to take advantage of voter disaffection with Fatah.

"We are very honest and work much more than the others," said Khaled Saada, a Hamas candidate for Bethlehem town council, citing schools, clinics and orphanages run by his group. "It is confirmed that we are much better at helping people."

The times they are a changin'.