ISRAEL

• Look for The Fence to get some serious airplay - the latest suicide bombing in Tel Aviv was apparently sponsored by the PFLP but carried out by a kid who slipped through an area near Jerusalem where ongoing construction of the security fence is being held up in Israeli court. Some see the bombing as the opening salvo in the fight for Arafat's successor.

• The Sinai bombing is being held up as a critical link between al-Qaeda and Hamas, if only because of a claim of responsibility that invoked Abdullah Yussuf Azzam's name - he was a Palestinian who espoused a philosophy of jihad against al-dar al-harb - literally "the world of war" - also known to Muslim terrorists as "the rest of the planet." The Egyptians feel otherwise.

THE PALESTINIANS

• Arafat's illness has gotten him out of Israel, possibly for good. Although nobody's saying much about what it would take for Sharon to deny Arafat any right of return to Gaza, basing Arafat's flight home on the Palestinian militants' continued good behavior is a tactic long used by both sides to renegotiate any agreement. Unfortunately,
  we have no way know if Arafat is really alive at this point. Speculations on his condition have ranged from leukemia to stomach cancer, but all signs are his condition is not good. Not that the French will have a problem capitalizing on their position as hosts and caregivers.

• Where Arafat only claims to give his blood freely for his people, it is others, usually the very young and idealistic, who actually bleed. Rabbi Moshe Reiss offers his thoughts on suicide bombing and asks why the children of the leaders never give their all.

SYRIA & LEBANON

• Lebanon formed a new government - surprise: they love Syria. On the positive side, the new Cabinet includes two women for the first time in Lebanese history.

• Take a walk down Sniper Alley... erm, Memory Lane, Lebanese-style at a bar called 1975. Sure. It was a good idea the first time around, why not try it again?