The Mecca summit

I haven't blogged much about the civil war between Hamas and Fatah in Palestine, mainly because I don't know what to say about it. Unfortunately, whichever side you may be on, this has not been good for the Palestinian people. It's fueled the anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian bigotry in the U.S., taken any pressure off of Bush (if there ever were any) to try to push a solution, emboldend Israel to step up the building of settlements, fueled sentiment in Israel for the wall, and generally screwed things up. So, let's hope this effort works:

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Islam's holy city of Mecca on Tuesday for what officials said was a last-ditch effort to end factional fighting.

The Fatah movement headed by Abbas and rival Islamist group Hamas, which won a parliamentary election last year, have been locked in a battle for power that has spiraled into violence and killed about 80 people since December.