Palestinian elections capture the spotlight in Germany on Monday as commentators, exhausted from the tragedy in South Asia, turn their pens toward the Middle East. It's hardly a restful topic. Depending on how you look at it, the election of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian Authority president on Sunday marks either hope for peace in the region or the start of yet more bickering and blood-letting.

As the Berliner Zeitung notes, the region is so fraught with anger, emotion and intractable red lines that a simple change in leadership after the death of Yasser Arafat will be far from enough to set the situation aright. "Can everything really change just because a new man sits at the head of the conference table?" the paper wonders. So many issues divide the region -- how to divide or share Jerusalem, the Israeli army control over Palestinians, the presence of Israel's security fence, the growing number of settlers in the West Bank, the right of return for Palestinians -- that peace seems scarcely possible. And yet, there is hope now, says the paper, that Abbas will be able to talk to the Israelis, to compromise with them somehow. "One wishes that both sides would look at each other and realize how traumatized they each are. Anyone with that feeling would have to be patient with the other, not expect too much and be ready for compromise. It is all so simple, really. And yet, it is all too complicated."

The business daily Handelsblatt sees Abbas' election as the best possibility the region has to jumpstart the long-faltering peace process. "Now it is time for Arafat's long-time ally to show what he's capable of. Does he really have a new message? This is what he still has to prove. And this will involve an honest dialogue with Israel and the stemming of radical Palestinian violence." America, says the paper, also must do its share. "The US is one of the pivotal and deciding motors for the resuscitation of the peace process. With his re-election behind him, George W. Bush should shift his Middle East policy to one of engagement."

Amid all the optimism, The Sueddeutsche Zeitung lends a note of skepticism. Abbas is far from a charismatic mover and shaker, the paper says, and in order to succeed he will need massive help from all sides, but especially from the United States and Israel. "High expectations often make politicians' jobs tough. That's why Palestinian leader Abbas will probably not be able to complete the task awaiting him. Arafat's successor is supposed to make peace with Israel, give his people their long-promised state, bring the militants under control and get the economy back on its feet. But Abbas is no Hercules and therefore it would be better to lower expectations from the start." The paper also insists that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has to do his share by "throwing (Abbas) a ball he can catch." Finally, "The international community, particularly the US, has to put massive pressure on Israel. Otherwise, Mahmoud Abbas will have failed as Palestinian leader before he even takes office."

The Financial Times Deutschland comes up with a more detail-oriented plan, saying Abbas' first step in office is simple: He has to stop the Palestinian-incited violence. "Abbas can only restart the international peace plan, known as the Road Map, when he has brought the militants from Hamas and Jihad, as well as the radical group al-Aska Martyr's Brigade, which is close to his Fatah party, under control." To do so, the paper says, he will need to operate with "velvet gloves" in order to make sure "the anger of the extremists does not get turned against him." Indeed, says the paper, "The perspectives for peace are laden with question marks. Abbas has a delicate operation to coordinate." But he has two things on his side: everyone's strong desire for peace and their experiences with war. So far, says the paper, the signs are good. We have to remember that "the power switch after the death of Arafat occurred much more smoothly and peacefully than anyone imagined."

In addition to the Middle East, a few commentators kept their noses pressed to South Asia, although they increasingly sharpened their focus on Germany and the overwhelming German outpouring of donations to help flood victims. "Should we be amazed at the enormous willingness of Germans to give?" the conservative Die Welt asks, focusing on both the close to €60 million ($78 million) in private donations and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's generous offer of €500 million in federal assistance. It's a sum that some in the opposition Christian Democratic party have criticized, saying it is too large and insisting it will take funds away from other important humanitarian causes, particularly in Africa. Die Welt has a slightly more myopic critique. "Out of this spark of giving shown toward the people of southeast Asia, one hopes that something can be turned inward and used to solve a few of the problems in our own country," the paper writes.