A real chance for Peace?

Joel C. Rosenberg has some good reasons to be hopeful that Abbas is serious about peace with Israel:

It is early, to be sure. Abbas still has much to do to prove his seriousness about reducing violence. Hamas has already announced it does not consider itself bound by Abbas's ceasefire pledge. And the more Abbas positions himself as a Palestinian Anwar Sadat, the more he risks Sadat's fate - assassination at the hands of extremists. But there is evidence that even the first few steps by Abbas and his team are already beginning to bear fruit. Since Arafat's death, for example, Palestinian violence against Israel is down 75 percent. And this is why Sharon agreed to a summit with Abbas without direct U.S. participation. It is why President Bush sent Secretary Rice to the region on her first foreign trip. It is why the president has invited Sharon and Abbas to visit him in Washington later this spring, after refusing even to meet with Arafat for the first four years of his administration. It is also why the president decided to elevate the Middle East peace process to top priority status during his recent State of the Union address - because he believes real progress is suddenly possible.

I was pretty sceptical about Abbas after reading some of what he was saying to his people in the run-up to the Palestinian elections. While I am not ready to trust him yet, I will admit that the signs are more positive than I would have expected.