Posted on 10/11/2006 6:46:16 PM PDT by Sabramerican
The speach was Wednesday night in DC. The quotes are accurate. I think it's reasonable to presume this is here line when speaking with Arab leaders as well.
Last month, in his speech to the UN General Assembly, President Bush reiterated his deep conviction that the Palestinian people deserve a better life - a life that is rooted in liberty and democracy, uncompromised by violence and terrorism, unburdened by corruption and misrule, and forever free of the daily humiliation of occupation. It is this belief that led President Bush, in June of 2002, to become the first American president to make it a matter of policy that the creation of a Palestinian state, with territorial integrity, with viability, living side by side with Israel, in peace and security, would indeed strengthen peace and security, not just in the region but the peace and security of us all.
As a point of interest, there were some adjustments made to the truce lines post 1949. When President Bush alluded to the 1949 lines as valid, the palestinians immediately laid claim to the adjustments which lie in Israel. Of course as I noted earlier, when they speak of occupation, they're talking about Israel. Palestinians speak of Tel Aviv as occupied territory. Fatah and the PLO were attacking to recover that occupied territory prior to the 1967 war.
Unless and until the Palestinians publicly acknowledge Israel's right to exist within defendable borders, they have no right to a nation of their own.
You're right. Actually their obligation, freely undertaken in 1993, was to ammend their Charter, by 1995. Eleven years later the necessary gathering to pass an amendment has yet to be called. The PA needs to be held to their obligations, and recognition, along with disarming terrorist groups in their territory seem to me to be fundamental prerequisites to negotiations. These issues have already been resolved. Of course that's a diplomatic non-starter, since everyone knows they're lying and won't comply. Israel accepted the Road Map only with formal preconditions, 12 or 13, which included these two. To whatever extent there are peaceful palestinians, all the US is doing by failing to recognize reality is perpetuating their life under terror. And at this point a civil war, or massive Israeli effort which isn't going to happen will correct that. Same with Lebanon, if they don't disarm Hizbollah, they will have another war. Note Jordan, they're no friend of Israel, but they don't allow terrorists to operate openly, and they benefit from some increased level of security. Same with ex-Sinai Egypt, and the terror groups they've allowed to operate have taken to attacking Egyptian targets, along with smuggling arms to Gaza.
Ping to 75
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.