Doings in the Middle East

This story brought two comments to mind:

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has sent bulldozers to demolish buildings put up illegally in Gaza City in the start of a crackdown on lawlessness. Many buildings have been illegally built on public land by militants, security men and unlicensed traders. About 200 Palestinian policemen were on the streets to protect the bulldozers."

(Click here if you want to read the rest of the story.) First, if the Palestinians really take control over their own people, my bet is that the masses are going to miss the Israelis' tender mercies. Arab leaders are not known for humanity towards their own people. Israelis tend to direct their reprisals either to the actual culprits or to buildings. Arabs have already shown a tendency to vigilante justice. Second, speaking of building destruction, how is the American Presbyterian Church, which is boycotting Caterpillar since Israeli's have used their products to raze buildings housing terrorists going to cope now that the Palestinians are doing the same thing? UPDATE: Anne, over at PalmTree Pundit, made a comment that deserves to be up here in the text: "Just for clarity's sake, the Presbyterians to whom you refer are the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA). The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), of which my church is a part, is distinctly different." Thanks for the clarification, Anne -- it's a very important distinction.