In the 1960s, Yasser Arafat set out to build an internationally recognized political entity and a new national identity for an immigrant people out of the raw material of lies, terrorism and murder. And he pulled it off. He conned the world into rewarding terrorism and bankrolling one of the most colossal scams in modern history: the spurious conceit of a nation called "Palestine" and a people called the "Palestinians". As much as I think he was a despicable, homicidal charlatan, I've got to admit that he pulled off a truly impressive feat of imagination and audacity.

Ah, but even arch-terrorists must die. I can't say that his passing wet my eyes too much - certainly not as much as, say, Jacques Chirac. And the mainstream media, which wrote stirring paeans to the deceased progenitor of modern Arab terror. Heck, even Jimmy Carter dropped by ol' Abu Ammar's tomb a couple of months after he was dropped into it. The world (which he conned) seemed almost to be saying, "Well, perhaps he was a terrorist, but damn it, he was our terrorist!"

And then came the hope for "a new era of peace in the Middle East" (as if Israel has anything to do with the dysfunctional and violent culture endemic to the rest of the area); the hope for a more moderate terrorist to lead Palestinian Arabs back onto the Road Map of destroying Israel more subtly, more quietly. Mahmoud Abbas, will you please report to the PLO's front office, and bring your compendium of lies and half-truths.

And suddenly, one, two, three - it's over! Abu Mazen is in. With only the minor speed bump of jailed lifer terrorist Marwan Barghouti between him and his VIP parking space at the PA's main branch, Abu Mazen was "elected" the new leader of a nonexistent nation founded on terror. The man who wrote a Holocaust denial for his doctoral thesis (The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism) has become the new "peace partner" for Israel, the Jewish state.

And the mainstream media, along with pundits on cable television and in the blogosphere, have been raptly swooning with baseless optimism, the likes of which hasn't been seen since... well, since Camp David/Taba 2000, I guess. Everyone is gushing about the great moderate, Abu Mazen, while in the meantime, mortars and Kassam rockets rain down upon Judea, Samaria and Gaza, a mother of four near Jerusalem is murdered - her throat slashed - as she returns home from the market, and IDF soldiers are blown to pieces by cowards who tunnel under their post. Between the time Abu Mazen was elected and this was written, a father of five was killed in a Gush Katif bombing and a murder/suicide bombing killed six civilians at Gaza's Karni crossing (one of the groups claiming responsibility was Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, from Abbas' own Fatah party). These are a few incidents that illustrate the hardest part of life for Israelis. They are symptoms of a horrible, centuries-old affliction called Arab/Islamic hatred. And people think that Abu Mazen is the cure?

He promised to end the incitement to hate and violence against Jews and Israelis on PA TV. It's gone on unabated. Abu Mazen has reached out to terrorist thugs and conferred upon them a political legitimacy that murderers do not deserve. He has renewed the unrealistic claim for the right of return for Arabs who fled an offensive Arab war because they believed that Israel would be annihilated. He has vowed in public that the struggle against "the Zionist enemy" will continue. And upon being elected, he stated that "the smallest jihad is over and the biggest jihad is ahead." I submit to you that we may have the first provable case of metempsychosis on our hands. I mean, come on - the noxious, black soul of Yasser Arafat was obviously transferred, upon death, into the body of this man.

The new boss is the same as the old boss until he proves otherwise. I'm just pragmatic, and well, I've paid close attention to the Palestinian Arab track record in the area of honestly pursuing peace and civility; it's not a good one. Abbas is shrewd, calculating, and true to his people. For them, it has always been about one thing: the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel. So, I don't really hold out much hope for a peaceful solution to the issue of Palestinian Arab murder and intransigence. And anyway, they know that the media will justify their criminal behavior. They know that useful leftist idiots in the West will apologize for them when they murder Israeli civilians, blaming it on Israel. And they know that whatever happens, the world will reward them and punish Israel.

However, being the magnanimous guy that I am, I am willing to offer dear Abu Mazen a few suggestions for what he can do to show that he is serious about making a real and lasting peace with Israel:

Arrest all terrorists. And kill them if you can't arrest them. There is never any justification for terror, and peace is not possible so long as it thrives. Terror needs to be against the law, and the law needs to be enforced, period.

End the incitement to Jew- and Israel-hatred on PA TV and in other media. This is so obvious, it's absurd that it even needs to be mentioned. Watching a red-faced, spluttering imam on television crying out for the blood of Jews to be spilled for Allah does not conduce to peace.

Change the PLO Charter. In writing. None of this "show of hands" or "affirmed among officials" nonsense. If you want to be a civil state in the twenty-first century, it helps to eliminate any genocidal nuances from your founding legal documents.

Revise school text books. Kids who are brought up in schools teaching that Israel must be destroyed will grow up - surprise! - wanting to see Israel destroyed.

Procure a moral sense and some responsibility. It's simple: Do the right thing (don't hate, kill or maim), and start holding yourself and your fellows accountable for your decisions and actions. The results of these humble virtues are spectacular if they are applied diligently and consistently.

Also, the removal of those execrable mosques from the Temple Mount would be a nice gesture too. Just a thought.

In any event, I will maintain my usual - and justified - skepticism about Palestinian Arab intentions, and my faith in Israel to keep on doing the right thing, even when it's not recognized or appreciated. Perhaps the greatest merit of Israel's ethical sense isn't that it is so strong, but that it remains unscathed when assailed time after time by hateful men, their violent minions and hypocrites all over the world.