Today's PalArab news, "in other words" edition

Mahmoud Abbas is starting a tour of Arab countries, including Syria and Saudi Arabia, to try to get a "unified front" in the face of Netanyahu's speech and peace plan. In other words, he wants to make sure that the Arab states support his rejectionist position and don't sell him down the river, by doing inconvenient things like telling Western news agencies that they are sick of the entire Palestinian Arab cause and want him to accept a deal already.

The PLO put out a statement saying that they are the only representatives of Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon and that they have no desire to encroach on Lebanese sovereignty. In other words, the PLO is trying to maintain the illusion that they care about their own people while they promise not to ask Lebanon to allow Palestinian Arabs to become citizens, preferring that their people remain stateless and second-class citizens forever.

Saeb Erekat told a delegation that 40% of the "settlements" are empty. So is he saying that "natural growth" isn't a problem because there is so much free space in the settlements?

Hamas stormed a social services organization north of Khan Younis and confiscated computers and other equipment. In other words, Jimmy Carter's friends are acting in a supremely humanitarian way, as usual.

Police in the West Bank arrested a man for practicing "witchcraft" and defrauding clients. When will the Western world ask the PA to take the same responsibility with their money?