Opinion polls are snapshots of sentiment at a given time, not a foolproof prediction.

Opinion polls are snapshots of sentiment at a given time, not a foolproof prediction.

If your support for Palestine entails justifying Assad’s mass slaughter, you are no friend to Palestinians or Syrians.
![A woman carries a Syrian freedom flag in a park across the street from the White House in Washington DC [Getty]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/415406bda06f4ffca92e8b853bff1f92_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
If Palestinians wept during Shimon Peres’ funeral, it was for the sorry spectacle of Mahmoud Abbas’ attendance.
![Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum being held in the Dead Sea area in Jordan, March 2013 [EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/040c71d4ae3b42719ee708e33add213f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
As with Israel, the Assad regime engages in diplomacy as a fig leaf towards pacification, not peace.
![Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/209c64e2b34446f6926f0d53815c77c8_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Even if the agreement is not meant to benefit the regime, it may do so in any case.

The split is more likely to be linked to recurring reports dating as far back as early last year.

The Labour leader’s opponents are using red herrings to ramp up pressure on him to resign.
![Jeremy Corbyn shakes hands with Rabbi Mendy Korer at an anti-racism rally in London, Britain [REUTERS]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/28e950bc78bd43c5a818ceba56f91c28_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The UN cannot in good conscience highlight the blood on Bashar al-Assad’s hands while willingly shaking them.
![Syria''s President Bashar al-Assad [REUTERS]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2ce94c12537a48efaebbfca0b2775c57_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
What Israel seeks is not peace but pacification.
![French President Francois Hollande greets Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France [EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/7bf75ffa988a4a41b292568c6f2213b8_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The regime is using the peace process as a diversionary tactic, buoyed by recent battlefield gains such as Palmyra.
