The arrest of two Palestinian activists, including the prominent figure Musab Shtayyeh, by Palestinian Authority police last week was not the first time the notorious Preventive Security Service had arrested a Palestinian wanted by Israel.

In his much-anticipated speech at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to, once more, make a passionate plea for the recognition of Palestine as a full member.

Sept. 16 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of about 3,000 Palestinians by Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army.

A week after Israel ended its deadly April 2002 onslaught on the besieged Palestinian refugee camp at Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Haaretz newspaper published an editorial titled, “There was no massacre in Jenin.”

While US and Western mainstream and corporate media remain biased in favor of Israel, they often behave as if they are a third, neutral party. This is simply not the case.

For years, Palestinians and Israelis have labored to redraw the battle lines of their conflict. The three-day Israeli war on Gaza, starting on Aug. 5, was a clear manifestation of this reality.

It seemed all but a done deal: Palestine has become a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot and the Arabs, so it seems, have finally been tamed.