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]