That's not Ariel Sharon, that's Mystique pretending to be Ariel Sharon.

I'm crossing all my fingers. I'm holding my breath. Perhaps I'm very, very naive, but I really hope this means something good will happen.

J E R U S A L E M, May 27 — Unbelievable. That was the word on everyone's lips on today after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a champion of Jewish settlement in areas Palestinians want for a state, described Israel's hold on land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as "occupation."...A former general, the 75-year-old Sharon has called the West Bank many things before — the biblical land of Israel, the land of Jewish forefathers — but never "occupied," a word Palestinians use as a rallying cry in an uprising for statehood.

Look, I'm not asking for the region to turn into the Rock the Casbah video or anything. But I would like never have to hear about Palestinian children being shot by Israeli soldiers or Israeli shoppers being exploded by Palestinian suicide bombers ever again.

Israeli troops shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and critically wounded two children, ages 7 and 9, during confrontations that erupted Tuesday in the West Bank as Israeli and Palestinian leaders moved toward talks on a new Mideast peace plan.

...In a village near the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Israeli troops opened fire on youths throwing stones, hitting a 9-year-old Palestinian boy in the head and critically wounding him, and hitting two 12-year-old boys in the legs, lightly wounding them,

...Five Palestinian children, a Palestinian woman and a police officer, were injured Tuesday after accidentally detonating explosives in the West Bank city of Hebron,

...Israeli troops killed a Palestinian teenager Monday and another surrendered after infiltrating from Gaza, the military said. They were unarmed and apparently looking for work. In a village near the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was killed during an exchange of gunfire.

Imagine how nice it would be if all of that could come to an end. Actually, turning into the Rock the Casbah video doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me. Although I don't think they actually have armadillos in the Middle East.