Well sure. They've been doing so fantastically since being given the Gaza Strip that it's just totally natural that their competence would be rewarded:

In a joint news conference with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza said Monday that U.S. President George W. Bush has decided to make ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict one of the highest priorities of his administration. Rice met Abbas to try to bridge his differences with Israel over the scope of a U.S.-led Mideast peace conference scheduled for next month in Annapolis, Maryland... "Frankly, it's time for the establishment of a Palestinian state, she added. Abbas said during the press conference that he hopes the U.S.-hosted conference will launch peace talks with a deadline for completion. Abbas also said he has asked for U.S. help in halting Israeli settlement expansion and construction of the separation fence.

Help us understand this: the Palestinians want their own state, with set borders, that's separate from Israel. But they're against the most significant Israeli project ever undertaken - the defensive fence - to accomplish that separation. We may be inclined to treat Palestinian requests with more suspicion than most people, but doesn't that seem a little counter-intuitive? Could their demands have anything to do with how the fence denies the Palestinians the only thing that brings them international attention - the wave of international sympathy that they get when Israel has to respond to the mass atrocities that they perpetuate against Israeli civilians? Because they don't seem particularly interested in peace:

A member of Fatah's militant wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was killed during an incident involving a patrol of undercover Border Police in Jenin yesterday. The dead man is Mohammed Abu Sarur, 20... Abu Sarur, who was driving, drew a pistol and was shot dead. The other man was arrested and taken for questioning. There were no injuries to the Border Police patrol. This is the second time in as many days that an Al-Aqsa Martyrs militant was shot and killed during an encounter with Israeli undercover security forces in the West Bank... In two cases, the force exchanged gunfire with armed Palestinians, hitting four. Palestinian sources confirmed that four Palestinians were hit but did not offer details.

This is on top of the 7 suicide bombings from the West Bank have been foiled in the last few weeks. Obviously Secretary Rice is right - what the Palestinians need at this point in their history is their own state. At least then Abbas would be able to continue his project of releasing Hamas terrorists and imposing sharia without Western interference.

References:
* Rice, in Ramallah: Peace is a top priority for Bush [Ha'aretz]
* Second Al-Aqsa militant killed by IDF in as many days [Ha'aretz]
* Israeli Security Foils 7 Suicide Bombings From Fatah-Controlled West Bank [MR]
* Abbas To Secure Position Against Hamas By Releasing 25 Hamas Soldiers. Wait, What? [MR]
* Abbas Pushes Back Against Hamas By Imposing Sharia In Ramallah [MR]

Previously:
* Hey, Guess What Happened Right Before Olmert Offered Abbas Security Concessions? Do You Think It Was A Successful, High Tech Fatah Rocket Attack?
* Holocaust Denier Complains to Israeli Traitors about Israelis
* Giving Land To Fatah Is Giving Land To Hamas - Ramp Up To November Edition

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit