The Boy is Father to the Man and the liberation movement is father to the state: Ha'aretz reports that a brother and sister from the West Bank town of Tul Karm were kidnapped Thursday by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah, on the suspicion of aiding Israel. The kidnapped are the niece and nephew of Ikhlas Yassin Khouli, the mother of 7 whom the Al Aqsa Brigades recently tortured and killed. Does anybody really believe that a Palestinian state would be democratic and respect human rights and the rule of law for its own people, let alone its neighbors? Does anybody really believe any more that the Palestinians will get the keys to their own state anytime soon?

No Shit, Sherlock Dept.The little boy who was kidnapped at gunpoint yesterday is apparently the object of a "bitter custody dispute". Police are looking for the boy's mother, who lost custody a few weeks ago and has already been arrested for violating a restraining order. But the Riverside County sheriff-elect says that she is not a suspect at this time.