Both the Israeli and Palestinian breeds. And there might be some American and European varieties with a few ruffled feathers as well. About time!

Jailed Palestinian to Run for President

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[UPDATE 11-14-04 12:20PM]

Well this was quick!

2 dead as Moussa Arafat's forces clash with Abbas guards

At least two people were killed Sunday when bodyguards of former Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) exchanged fire with troops under the command of Gaza security chief Moussa Arafat as Abbas paid a visit to an official mourning tent for Yasser Arafat in Gaza City.
One of the two killed in the shooting is believed to have been a bodyguard for Abbas. The former prime minister, who was named earlier Sunday as Fatah's candidate for the Palestinian Authority chairmanship, was unhurt in the shooting; five other people were wounded.

The 69-year-old Abbas was accompanied by Mohammed Dahlan, the former Palestinian security chief in the Gaza Strip.

Apparently the gunmen shouted "Abbas and Dahlan are agents for the Americans" . Seems the lines in Gaza remain sharply drawn from the conflict a few months ago, with Abbas-Dahlan versus Moussa Arafat. And these are the folks who are supposed to be working together with the Egyptians to plan for transition security when Israel proceeds with disengagement! Have to pity the Egyptians on this one.

I've been busy working on my new toy.

But here's what I've been reading in between edits:

• Impending success in Falljuah but whack-a-mole in Iraq as a whole, and now it's with extra Kurds (to get the insurgents out of the way). Let's hope they succeed without setting off a wave of inter-ethnic violence. In the meantime, maybe something should be done about angry, unemployed former Mukhabarat officials and embittered Sadr city residents.
  
• Kevin Sites has photos of American troops in Fallujah, and Alaa is doing some good analytical blogging of the situation.
  
• Dueling fatwas over whether Iraqi Shi'ites should partipate in the January elections.
  
• Today's chaotic burial of Yasser Arafat doesn't seem like an auspicious start for Abu Mazen. Jonathan Edelstein has a thoughtful post-mortem assessment of the man who betrayed the cause of which he was a living symbol. Greg Djerejian thinks the Bush administration is serious about engaging in a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but Laura Rozen suspects otherwise, perhaps with good reason. Brent Scowcroft sees an opening for peace. Of course, the last time he gave advice, Bush didn't listen. Has he learned his lesson?
  
• Matt Yglesias makes a good point that ties in with what I think we're trying to do with Liberals Against Terrorism: it isn't so much that Democrats don't have national security experts, but that the general Democratic operative community doesn't pay much attention to them.
  

Finally, happy Diwali to our many Indian and Indian-American Hindu readers.

The Washington Post has a good overview of the maneuverings in the recent hours about the Palestinian succession process.

[UPDATE] And since nothing between Israelis and Palestinians can ever be simple, an inventory of some of the complexities of Arafat's memorial service(s) and burial.

[UPDATE 2] And since nothing approaches the complex tin-foil edifices found in that intellectual Bermuda Triangle where "the coalition of the willing is leading the freedom march in Iraq" meets "the WoT as waged by Likudniks" meets "moral values," the Order of the Shrill has sent out for emergency assistance for our Wonkette. Her friends will be relieved to know she's being cared for in the Keening Blasphemy Wing after being driven to shrillness by David Frum. Luckily, the Order has expanded its treatment facilities and is ready for four more years.

Bill Moyers is shrill:

One of the biggest changes in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. How do we fathom and explain the mindset of violent exhibitionists and extremists who blow to smithereens hundreds of children and teachers of Middle School Number One in Beslan, Russia? Or the radical utopianism of martyrs who crash hijacked planes into the World Trade Center? How do we explain the possibility that a close election in November could turn on several million good and decent citizens who believe in the Rapture Index? That’s what I said—the Rapture Index; Google it and you will understand why the best-selling books in America today are the 12 volumes of the 'Left Behind' series that have earned multi-millions of dollars for their co-authors, who, earlier this year, completed a triumphant tour of the Bible Belt whose buckle holds in place George W. Bush’s armor of the Lord. These true believers subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the l9th century by a couple of immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them into a narrative millions of people believe to be literally true.

According to this narrative, Jesus will return to earth only when certain conditions are met: when Israel has been established as a state; when Israel then occupies the rest of its 'biblical lands;' when the third temple has been rebuilt on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosques; and, then, when legions of the Antichrist attack Israel. This will trigger a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon during which all the Jews who have not converted will be burned. Then the Messiah returns to earth. The Rapture occurs once the big battle begins. True believers 'will be lifted out of their clothes and transported to heaven where, seated next to the right hand of God, they will watch their political and religious opponents suffer plagues of boils, sores, locusts and frogs during the several years of tribulation which follow.

From the horse's mouth:

The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.

Rapture Index of 85 and Below: Slow prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 85 to 110: Moderate prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 110 to 145: Heavy prophetic activity
Rapture Index above 145: Fasten your seat belts

As of September 27, 2004, the Rapture Index stands at 154.