Tomorrow's Washington Post reports that President Bush is under a great deal of pressure to continue the Clinton Policy of pressuring Israel for concessions, never mind what the Palestinians do. The article contains this telling paragraph:

But there was clear concern, both within the administration and outside it, that continued violence would undercut hopes of progress, and worry that any delay in Bush's meeting with Sharon would risk lessening the president's zeal for pressuring Israel to make its own moves toward peace.

Evidently some people are worried that if enough Jews die, President Bush may regain his moral clarity on the issue. I wouldn't hazard a guess as to which cabinet-level department these people work for. But if they're concerned about outside pressure relenting, they needn't worry. I don't think there's ever been a time when "Europe" wasn't pressing Israel to surrender.

The same issue contains one of the most tendentious articles on the subject of Arab media ever to appear in our new Aspiring Paper of Record:

Israeli extremism, not Palestinian extremism, is ultimately to blame for the string of suicide bombings in the last two days in Israel and the occupied territories.

That is the rough consensus in the English-language online media in the Middle East. The attacks, while almost universally condemned, evoke no sympathy for Israeli government outside of Israel itself.

Surprise! The Arab media blames Israel for being attacked. This is news? Evidently, one Jefferson Morley has been given the task of ignoring The Indispensible MEMRI and wading through the reams of Arab Jew-hatred himself. (The column is called "World Opinion Roundup," but, just like World Opinion, it seems to spend a disproportionate amount of time rounding up Arab opinion.) The only newspapers that get any sort of label are the "conservative" Jerusalem Post and the "liberal" Ha'Aretz. The Arab News is quoted as though it were just another newspaper, which, I guess, for Arabs it is.

Dar al Hayat is "respected," though, an honor that escapes both Israeli papers. Dar al Hayat publishes in Syrian-occupied Lebanon and in London. On its front page, the image of the US-UK flags links to the official biographies British and American "Warlords." That's "Mr. Warlord," to you, buster. The picture of a Communist-led anti-war demonstration links to full coverage of all "spontaneous" anti-War demonstrations around the world. If Dar al Hayat wanted to make any greater effort to editorialize on its front page, they'd have to hire Howell Raines as the editor.