In a generational and ideological shift someone like Mustafa Barghouti, a physician who is a member of the Palestinian Central Council, is an eloquent spokesman for the Palestinian cause, and is committed to nonviolence, should be persuaded to take over from the likes of Mahmoud Abbas and his corrupt cronies. Such a change of guard is likely to bring about a major transformation in the Palestinian approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict and could even pave the way for an eventual solution to that conflict.

Mohammed Ayoob is senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy in Washington, DC, and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Michigan State University.