What’s that Bush Playing at? Words vs. Deeds.
A little point, counter-point. Bush in Israel spewing nice sounding things but meaning none of them.
Bush in Israel - 01/09/08 - Haaretz
Bush:
“I come as an optimistic person and a realistic person - realistic in my understanding that it’s vital for the world to fight terrorists to confront those who would murder the innocent to achieve political objectives,” [Yes! Bush is going to confront himself and his administration! Bush is going to confront Israel over Lebanon and the Humanitarian crisis in Gaza!]
“I come with high hopes, and the role of the United States will be to foster a vision of peace. The role of the Israeli leadership and the Palestinian leadership is going to do the hard work necessary to define a vision,” Bush said. [Bush as a U.S. visionary of peace. Would that be the Afghanistan vision? The Iraq vision? The Pakistan vision? The Gaza vision?]
“the international community must understand with clarity the threat Iran poses to world peace.” [Bush is finally telling the international community to recognize that Iran is not a threat to world peace? - that certainly is something to make clear indeed. Bravo Bush!]
“The alliance between our two nations helps guarantee Israel’s security as a Jewish state,” [Will this alliance then entail converting the 20% of the Israeli population that is Arab into Jews? Will this be followed up by a declaration of the United States as a Christian State?]
Bush backs ‘contiguous Palestine’ - 01/10/08 - Al Jazerra
Bush:
“The vision of a Palestinian state is one of contiguous territory.” “Swiss cheese isn’t going to work when it comes to the territory of a state.” [What is needed then is a territorial concession from Israel allowing a sovereign Palestinian corridor from the West Bank to Gaza. What is also required then is the removal of all the “holes” in the West Bank - the illegal settlements.]
“And I believe it’s possible - not only possible, I believe it’s going to happen - that there be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office.” [Words vs. Deeds?]
Bush said Israel should remove Jewish settlements built without government authorisation in the occupied West Bank. - “Outposts, yeah, they ought to go,” Bush said. [Outposts only? The settlements must go. What happened to the vision thing you mentioned yesterday? What happened to removing those holes?]
Bush: I believe we will reach peace deal in 2008 - 01/10/08 - Haaretz
Bush:
“each side has got obligations under the road map… we have made our concerns about the expansion of settlements known.” [Have any concerns about the existence of settlements on Palestinian land? Expansion of … ! Tricky, tricky.]
On Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas militants, Bush said that “there is a competing vision taking place in Gaza. Hamas… has delivered nothing but misery. I’m convinced his [Abbas’] government will yield a hopeful future.” [Must be a misquote. Shouldn’t it read that Israel has created nothing but misery in Gaza? Bush spreading more of his vision of how to denigrate democratically elected governments.]
“Some day, I hope that as a result of the formation of a Palestinian state, there won’t be walls, and checkpoints. People will move freely in a democratic (Palestinian) state,” Bush said. - “That’s the vision, greatly inspired by my belief that there is an Almighty, and a gift of that Almighty to each man, woman and child on the face of the Earth is freedom.” [Agreed. Actually, that’s pretty much a human vision and a human gift. Had the Almighty given that gift we’d all have it. Being a human gift, we must contend with the human beings like you who have actually worked within your own country and worldwide to undermine freedom and support authoritarian tyranny. Regaining that freedom will, in part, require gaining freedom from the likes of an authoritarian like you.]
Bush: Palestinian statehood and compensation are solution to refugee issue - 01/10/08 - Haaretz
“I believe we need to look to the establishment of a Palestinian state and new international mechanisms, including compensation, to resolve the refugee issue,” [Why not simply enforce the decades-long-ignored old international mechanisms? You’re looking like an advocate for the Israeli position here Bush.]
“There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967,” continued Bush. “The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.” [Agreed. End the occupation of East Jerusalem and all the West Bank and of the life endangering imprisonment of the Gazans. Your analogy is faulty. Palestine as a homeland for Palestinians just as Israel as a homeland for Israelis. Palestine as the home of Muslims, Jews and Christians just as Israel as the home of Muslims, Jews and Christians (and of course any other ethnicities allowed to immigrate)]
“These negotiations must ensure that Israel has secure, recognized, and defensible borders,” he said. “And they must ensure that the state of Palestine is viable, contiguous, sovereign, and independent.” [Israel, for example, could put its wall on its land rather than expropriate Palestinian land. Equally, Palestine requires secure, recognized and defensible borders as part of a viable, contiguous, sovereign and independent state.]
“On the Israeli side that includes ending settlement expansion and removing unauthorized outposts,” Bush said. “On the Palestinian side that includes confronting terrorists and dismantling terrorist infrastructure … no agreement and no Palestinian state will be born of terror.” [It includes ending the entire settlement enterprise not mere expansion and outposts. Pretty much all Palestinians alive today were/are born in terror. The terror of a brutal, sadistic occupation. Terror must end but both sides must end it.]
