Some excerpts from the Jerusalem Post on today's meeting:
Exuding optimism and unity of purpose, US President George W. Bush and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas concluded their meeting Thursday on the White House lawn.
"The Palestinian people voted against violence, and for sovereignty," Bush told Abbas. "The US people applaud your rejection of terrorism."
I'm trying to figure out when that vote took place, exactly. In both the local elections of earlier this month and in two previous polls in December and January, Hamas did quite well. So it's a nice sound bite, but it's devoid of substance.
Abbas was expected to demand that the US exert pressure on Israel to halt settlement activity in the West Bank, release thousands of Palestinian prisoners and ease security restrictions imposed on Palestinians.
Bush responded to the PA leader's need to appease his constituents by restating that Israel "must remove all unauthorized outposts."
I was hoping that quote was accurate and complete. An "unauthorized outpost" is a settlement that has never received government approval and is simply illegal under the law of the State of Israel. I would agree that all unauthorized outposts should be removed (including, of course, all of the illegal and unauthorized Arab structures that have also been erected). But, alas, the full transcript shows that Bush said more.
Israel should not undertake any activity that contravenes road map obligations or prejudice final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Therefore, Israel must remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion.
And this:
Any final status agreement must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the 1949 armistice lines must be mutually agreed to.
[ . . . ]
This is the position of the United States today. It will be the position of the United States at the time of final status negotiations.
Mr. Sharon, I hope you were paying attention.
Back to The Post:
Abbas maintained that reaching a permanent-status agreement with Israel would be feasible through negotiations, and said that the Palestinian Authority had made great efforts in implementing political reforms.
He added that the level of terror is the lowest it's been in over four years.
Yes, it is. And it's the lowest it's been in over four years due to two factors: the impressive diligence of the Israel Defense Forces and the effectiveness of the security barrier. It is not due to lack of attempts by palestinian terrorists, which have been detected and thwarted on a daily basis, nor to the intervention of the palestinian police, which has been virtually non-existent.
Bush is making a fool of himself. And if he keeps at it, he's going to end up looking more naive than Clinton when it comes to dealing with the palestinians. First he backpedalled on his June 24, 2002 speech, and now he's doing the same with his April 14, 2004 comments. And there was yet another outrageous quote attributed to him in today's transcript, though I believe in error. I'm pretty sure it was actually Abu Mazen talking. But even so, it illustrates the cluelessness of Bush's assumptions about what it is the palestinians want and what they will accept in any "peace process."
Regarding the issue of settlements and the wall, our position is very clear from the beginning.
When we talk about two states, we are talking about a Palestinian state within the boundaries of 1967. That means that those boundaries, in our view, should go back to the Palestinian people. This is what the road map states and this is what is in various U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Those boundaries, which most of the world once recognized as indefensible by Israel, should "go back to the Palestinian people," who never recognized them or enjoyed the slightest sovereignty within them in the first place? Mutual agreement has never been farther away, Mr. President.
