mostly quiet on the western front

here in nablus things are relatively quiet. last night, in the old city where i am staying with a family, guns rang out throughout the evening in celebration of abu mazen's overwhelming electoral victory. people here seem happy about the prospects of a new leader, though the shift is somewhat confusing. the last time i was here, two summers ago in 2003, abu mazen had been made chief minister by abu amar (arafat), and people in the camps were boiling over with hatred for the former. what is abu mazen doing for us now?, they'd ask, as tanks barreled down the narrow streets of the camp. where is abu mazen now?

things have certainly changed, with most palestinians in the camp supporting abu mazen loudly and clearly. his photograph is everywhere, and the palestinian street is now littered with election propaganda instead of what is most common in other times, pictures of the deceased, the martyrs, on posters which line the walls and every possible flat surface.

an important aside here is that, for palestinians, 'martyr' means not only one who has died in combat, resisting occupation. it is also a term used to describe children and the young and old who are brutally snuffed out completely innocent, without raising a gun, a stone or a fist to the occupation. these people, like those who resist violently, are martyrs, too.

i hope the guns are quiet tonight, though many palestinians i have spoken with today assume that the 72 hours of relative quiet, relief from military incursion, will be over when the sun goes down. let us hope they are wrong. more soon...