Posted on 06/27/2002 8:28:56 PM PDT by Stultis
I'm pretty sure I saw a headline somewhere to the effect that the Palestinian media did not broadcast Bush's June 24 speech live. Is this correct? If so, why? Was it broadcast later? I would very much like to know the answer for a personal discussion I am currently involved in. If anyone can help I think it will be of interest to many FReepers. Pardon my laziness in not researching this personally, but I just don't have the time right now to hunt down a definitive answer.
BTW, the concluding paragraphs of Bush's speech underscore his desire to communicate to the Palestinian people (speaking past their "leadership"):
I can understand the deep anger and despair of the Palestinian people. For decades you've been treated as pawns in the Middle East conflict. Your interests have been held hostage to a comprehensive peace agreement that never seems to come, as your lives get worse year by year. You deserve democracy and the rule of law. You deserve an open society and a thriving economy. You deserve a life of hope for your children. An end to occupation and a peaceful democratic Palestinian state may seem distant, but America and our partners throughout the world stand ready to help, help you make them possible as soon as possible.
If liberty can blossom in the rocky soil of the West Bank and Gaza, it will inspire millions of men and women around the globe who are equally weary of poverty and oppression, equally entitled to the benefits of democratic government.
I have a hope for the people of Muslim countries. Your commitments to morality, and learning, and tolerance led to great historical achievements. And those values are alive in the Islamic world today. You have a rich culture, and you share the aspirations of men and women in every culture. Prosperity and freedom and dignity are not just American hopes, or Western hopes. They are universal, human hopes. And even in the violence and turmoil of the Middle East, America believes those hopes have the power to transform lives and nations.
This moment is both an opportunity and a test for all parties in the Middle East: an opportunity to lay the foundations for future peace; a test to show who is serious about peace and who is not. The choice here is stark and simple. The Bible says, "I have set before you life and death; therefore, choose life." The time has arrived for everyone in this conflict to choose peace, and hope, and life.
So, did he ever get the opportunity?
The text of Bush’s speech Monday can be found at the link below.
I was amazed and surprised by this speech, and cautiously encouraged. Bush spoke simple truths – truths that everyone knows, but have been forbidden impieties in diplo-speak – about what is required to genuinely improve the lives and conditions of the Palestinian people, and to build a successful Palestinian polity. If Bush stands by what he has said here, and the spirit of it, that we can no longer play “let’s pretend” about the realities from which the Palestinians suffer, and which their own leadership (and that of certain NAMED Arab states) both contribute too and corruptly benefit from, then there is a chance of generating some constructive behavior in the region.
There will be plenty of negative reaction to this speech, and much hand wringing by those who want the U.S. and its President to help them keep pretending, but for a few days at least there will be subdued and cautious reactions from some usually voluble quarters. Those are the ones watching and waiting to see if the U.S. will really provide leadership, will really expect all parties to move towards peace, to cease fueling violence, to end incitement. Many, even within the American government, will be pushing to return to the State Department mentality of “managing” the crisis. The soft racism of tsk-tsking over the unfortunate but “understandable” inability of the poor little brown people to work toward constructively improving their own lot, or of even aspiring to do so, and the deadly consequence of expecting nothing of them, will attempt to reassert itself at every opportunity. Unless these tendencies are continually resisted, first by Bush and then hopefully by other leaders, we will soon snap back into the passive tolerance of nihilistic barbarism the allegedly civilized world has lately become accustomed to.
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.