President and Mrs. Bush with
Israel President Shimon Peres, May 14.
Le Figaro, France
Bush's Goodbye Tour of a Middle East in
Crisis
"Expected this morning in Jerusalem to participate
in celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, George W. Bush
will have few other reasons to rejoice during a tour which is likely to
illustrate the failure of his policies in the region."
By
Patrick Saint-Paul, correspondent in Jerusalem
Translated
By Sandrine Agoerges
May
13, 2008
France
- Le Figaro - Original Article (French)
The American president arrives in Israel in midst of
political uncertainty and with the peace process at a standstill.
The American president could hardly have envisaged a
more unfavorable climate for his Middle East tour. Expected this morning in
Jerusalem to participate in celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the State
of Israel, George W. Bush will have few other reasons to rejoice during a tour
that will also take him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt and which is likely to
illustrate the failure of his policies in the region. The Israeli-Palestinian
peace process is on the brink of collapse. In Lebanon, the pro-Western government
of Fouad Siniora is
suffering a Hezbullah onslaught, while the Shiite movement is supported by the
two black beasts of U.S. policy in the region, Iran and Syria.
For his second visit to Jerusalem since last January,
Bush will be forced to note that since he undertook to revive peace
negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians at Annapolis in late 2007,
no progress has been made. "Unless he has a rabbit in his
hat, this will be the third time in the past half year that the U.S. president
shows the Palestinians and the entire Arab world that they are wasting their
time by trying to end the occupation by peaceful means." says Akiva Eldar in an editorial
entitled Bush should stay home .
The hope of the American President to see an agreement
before the end of the year seems illusory. According to his entourage, the
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas,
told Bush during his visit to Washington last month that upon discovering the
positions of Israeli negotiators, he thought it was a joke - so far where they
from the parameters set by Bill Clinton at the time of the previous talks.
[Al Ahram, Egypt]
According to the Palestinians, Israeli negotiators
sought to retain, in addition to large areas with Jewish settlements, the
Jordan Valley up to the outskirts of Nablus -
amounting to about 10 percent more territory. In Jerusalem, there would be no
question of splitting the old city - home to the sacred sites, nor the
restoration of the Arab districts that border it. Israel merely proposed
Palestinian control over an "Esplanade of Mosques" and some of the
suburbs surrounding East Jerusalem. The talks were jeopardized by programs to
enlarge Israeli settlements in the West Bank and violence in Gaza strip, where
missiles launched by Hamas activists have led to an Israeli military response.
The political crisis now confronting Israel also
weighs heavily on the negotiations. George Bush may reassure people that Ehoud
Olmert is "an honest man," but according to the polls, a huge
majority of Israelis want him to resign as prime minister, after he was accused
of having taken bribes from an American businessman. Bush asserts that the
peace process "isn't based on one man." But if Olmert
was forced to leave his post, early elections in Israel would halt the peace
talks for an undetermined period of time, and both sides are now so far apart
that a three-way summit with Bush, Olmert and Abbas isn't even being considered.
[The Toronto Star, Canada]
Flying to the rescue of his friend George Bush, former
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who represents the international quartet in
the Middle East, has squeezed a few concessions from Israeli leaders. Four
roadblocks will be removed and seven others will be upgraded to
facilitate the passage of Palestinians, he announced on Tuesday. According to
him, Israelis and Palestinians have also agreed to create a "trade and
security zone" near Jenin, in the Northern West
Bank. But Blair conceded that "the test is not to have reached an
agreement, but to see whether it will be implemented." There is little
hope on that front.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Ehoud Olmert has said on several
occasions that in the long run, only the creation of a Palestinian state would
ensure the survival of Israel as a Jewish and democratic nation. Without a genuine
American commitment, the prospect of this appears very far away. One of the key
moments of George Bush’s tour will be his visit to the ancient Jewish fortress
of Massada overlooking the Dead Sea. There, 2000
years ago, surrounded by Roman legions, the Jewish resistance preferred suicide
to surrender: It would be difficult to choose a less apt symbol.
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH
VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
May 14, 5:40pm]