Bush Vows Commitment to Israel
Posted on: Thursday, 15 May 2008, 21:00 CDT
JERUSALEM _ Facing little hope for Mideast peace in the short term, on Thursday President George W. Bush cast his gaze forward a full 60 years with a vision of two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living side-by-side in peace.
Bush, addressing the Knesset on Thursday as part of a celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary, delivered a staunch commitment to the defense of Israel and a stern warning to those who might threaten Israel's existence.
The president pointed specifically at Hamas, the militant organization controlling Gaza, and Hezbollah, the militia opposing the government of Lebanon, as terrorists with whom there can be no negotiation. And Bush vowed that Iran, supporting both Hamas and Hezbollah and deemed by Bush as the leading sponsor of terrorism in the region, will never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.
"We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace," Bush said. "We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction."
Yet as Bush paid tribute to Israel's 60th anniversary, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip marked the anniversary of their displacement in the war that followed the birth of Israel, an event they call the nakba, or catastrophe. Bush mentioned the Palestinians in his speech in just one sentence and did not specifically refer to his stated goal of a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement by the end of his term in office. Instead, he spoke of the way this region may look in another 60 years.
"That future will be a dramatic departure from the Middle East of today," Bush said. "Israel will be celebrating its 120th anniversary as one of the world's great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved _ a democratic state that is governed by law, respects human rights and rejects terror.
"This is a bold vision, and some will say it can never be achieved. But think about what we have witnessed in our own time."
In Jerusalem, Bush has met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about talks under way and met privately Thursday with Tony Blair, the former British prime minister now representing the "Quartet" of nations and international organizations promoting a peace agreement. In Egypt this weekend, Bush plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is negotiating an agreement privately with Olmert.
"He's going to talk to (Abbas) about his conversations with Prime Minister Olmert, where they see things going," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, "and just to encourage ... both sides to keep on moving the process forward."
But in public, he said, the president was "focused on the long-term goal, what the region will look like 60 years from now," not the "nitty gritty" of negotiations under way, Johndroe said. Asked how Bush can voice such optimism in light of the current state of events, he said: "Unless you are optimistic about the future, then you have no hope that this will succeed. If you don't set out a goal for what the region should look like, then what's the point of anyone sitting down to talk at all?"
In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians held rallies and marches to mark the anniversary of nakba, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the war that followed Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948.
But the commemorations reflected the internal divisions among Palestinians, split between the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where the rival Fatah movement is dominant.
In Gaza, Hamas police blocked a nakba rally organized by Fatah, and Hamas supporters stayed away from Fatah-led events in the West Bank. In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government in the West Bank, thousands gathered in the main square and stood in silence as a siren wailed. Some protesters carried black flags and wore black T-shirts that read "1948" on the back, and "Not for Sale" on the front.
Children marched with replicas of keys of homes lost and signs carrying names of villages emptied 60 years ago. Thousands of black balloons were sent aloft, one for each day since the founding of Israel. A banner referred to a United Nations resolution on the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes. "For implementation, not negotiation," it said.
Abbas, in a taped speech broadcast at the rally, called for an end to Israeli occupation. "On this beloved land live two peoples: one celebrating its independence and the other feeling the pain of the memory of its nakba," he said. "It's time to end the nakba of the Palestinian people."
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "Bush's recognition of Palestine as the national homeland for the Jews is a very dangerous act of discrimination and racism, obliterating the right of return for Palestinians."
At the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, stone-throwing youths clashed with Israeli soldiers, who fired rubber-coated bullets. In the Gaza Strip, protesters who marched toward the Erez crossing with Israel were dispersed with warning shots.
There were also commemorations by Arab citizens of Israel, descendants of those who stayed behind when Israel was born. Most Arab members of Israel's parliament boycotted Bush's speech, and three were asked to leave the chamber when they appeared with signs that said: "We Shall Overcome."
In the halls of the Knesset, Bush was welcomed as a hero. The chamber rose in a standing ovation when he uttered the words in Hebrew: "Yom Ha'atzma'ut Sameach," Happy Independence Day.
Before his speech, Bush had visited Masada, the 2,000-year-old fortress on a high plain above the Dead Sea valley where Jewish rebels sacrificed themselves rather than submit to Roman capture.
"At this historic site, Israeli soldiers swear an oath: `Masada shall never fall again,'" the American president told the Israeli parliament. "Citizens of Israel: Masada shall never fall again, and America will always stand with you."
___
(c) 2008, Chicago Tribune.
Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
_____
PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. 1058243
Source: Chicago Tribune
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds