A "Cynic" Is a Realist You Disagree With

The National Post espies "hope" (a thing with feathers, no?) in the latest round of "peace" palaver. The basis of this "hope"? Risibly, it's Abbas's purported "pragrmatism":

Of course, cynics will point out that Mr. Abbas is no lover of Israel: He simply wants to prevent his Fatah-led fiefdom from being destabilized by Hamas and its Islamist backers, as was the fate of the PA administration in Gaza. But that's exactly why there's reason for optimism: Unlike Yasser Arafat, who preferred the romantic role of perpetual revolutionary to the hard work of state-building, Messrs. Abbas and Fayyad are driven by a pragmatic desire to create a real Palestinian state under their own stewardship. And as they've shown over the last few years, they are willing to knock Palestinian heads together to make it happen.

And the existence of an actual state under the stewardship of "pragmatists" who despise the sovereign Jewish presence on "Muslim land" and who are every bit as committed to Zion's demise as their Hamas rivals would be a good thing because...?

Update: Melanie Phillips isn't too hopeful. She writes:

It cannot be said too often that the overwhelming reason for the Middle East impasse is that for decades now, America, Britain and Europe have rewarded the Arabs for their terrorist violence and taken uniquely hostile action against their Israeli victims instead. Hamas is actually committing these murders. But just as with their Nazi forbears, the connivance of other, ostensibly neutral, players in this process is crucial. In today’s pre-pogrom atmosphere against Israel in the west, the demonisation and dehumanisation of the settlers is a crucial element in the terrorists’ strategic calculation. With every article in the western – and Israeli – media painting the settlers as monsters while the truly monstrous terrorists are presented as injured freedom-fighters, more Israeli death warrants become sealed. The western intelligentsia are not passive onlookers to this never-ending tragedy. They are active players in ensuring that it continues. It is high time that they were held to account for this murderous obsession.

Held to account by whom, though, when everyone--including the National Post--has gone all giddy and soft in the head because they think they can see "peace" on the horizon?