On May 13, 1:45=A0am, Al ****ba <williamhubb...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On May 12, 3:42=A0pm, "dshar...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
" <dshara...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Wa****ngton Watch: Palestinian statehood - as elusive as ever
> > By DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD
> > May 11, 2008 20:37 | Updated May 12, 2008 9:39
>
> > Talkbacks for this article: 52
>
> > What does it say about the Palestinian commitment to peace when the
> > first American president to make the creation of a Palestinian state a
> > goal of his administration is told he is unwelcome when he comes next
> > week to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday?
>
> > When President Bush goes to Israel he will be persona non grata -
> > translation: Yankee go home -in the Palestinian Authority because they
> > will be mourning the establishment of the Jewish state, which they
> > refer to as the ****ba or catastrophe. That's not Hamas or Islamic
> > Jihad, who make no secret of their desire to eradicate the state of
> > Israel, but it is the man most identified with the concept of two
> > states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, living side-by-side in peace -
> > Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
>
> > Even though he won't be welcome in Ramallah, Bush welcomed Abbas at
> > the White House last week when the Palestinian leader came to urge him
> > to put more pressure on Israel to meet Palestinian demands if he
> > expects to achieve his goal of a peace agreement before he leaves
> > office.
>
> > The American president isn't the only one being snubbed; the PA has
> > told French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
> > and other world leaders attending the Israeli celebration they are
> > equally unwelcome.
>
> > If Bush wants to see Abbas, he will have to go to Egypt. In a further
> > effort to accommodate Palestinian sensitivities, Bush re****tedly will
> > not be visiting the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism and
> > location of the ancient Temple that the Palestinians insist never
> > existed.
>
> > Meanwhile, the PA is trying to organize a march of more than 100,000
> > Palestinian refugees in Lebanon toward the Israeli border and
> > thousands more from the West Bank and Gaza toward Israeli checkpoints
> > and border crossings. Those living abroad are being urged to fly to
> > Ben Gurion Air****t or take ****ps to Israeli ****ts. All this in the
> > name of "reclaiming" homes lost in the ****ba.
>
> > They are being billed as "peaceful demonstrations" but it won't take
> > much for the emotionally charged confrontations to turn violent,
> > creating a real catastrophe.
>
> > BUT THE real ****ba is not the creation of the Jewish state but the
> > rejection by Arab leaders of the 1947 partition plan and the
> > op****tunity to create a state for the Palestinians. They weren't
> > really interested in a two-state solution then and many apparently
> > still are not - Abbas's yanking the welcome mat raises questions about
> > his own professed commitment.
>
> > The tragedy, of course, was compounded by a succession of Israeli
> > leaders too timid and too focused on their own political careers to
> > confront a radical settlers movement consumed with its dreams of a
> > greater Israel and opposed to peace with the Palestinians on any terms
> > likely to be accepted.
>
> > Abbas is snubbing two im****tant allies, the president of the United
> > States and the Israeli public. He needs both if he wants to achieve
> > peace.
>
> > An unnamed senior Palestinian official told The Jerusalem Post that
> > Abbas left the White House "angry and depressed" last week when Bush
> > turned down his demands to tighten the screws on the Israelis. The
> > Bush administration is not a credible honest broker and Palestinians
> > will have to wait for the next president, he said.
>
> > He fails to understand that the close relation****p between Wa****ngton
> > and Jerusalem makes the United States an indispensable intermediary
> > between Israel and the Arabs; it is the only country with the
> > credibility and clout for that role.
>
> > However, he's right on the second point. After six years of neglect,
> > the Bush administration has started to talk as if peace was a real
> > priority - but action has lagged far behind rhetoric. The Republican
> > and Democratic candidates for president have indicated they would get
> > more personally involved in Mideast peace making.
>
> > Israeli public opinion can be a valuable asset; it is often ahead of
> > the political leader****p. Ehud Olmert was elected prime minister two
> > years ago on a platform calling for withdrawal from 90 percent of the
> > West Bank, and that was just for openers. There was hope for peace;
> > the Gaza withdrawal was expected to create a showcase for Palestinian
> > self-rule but instead Gaza sunk into chaos and Hamas seized power in a
> > coup.
>
> > THE DAILY barrage of missiles from Gaza, the failures of the Second
> > Lebanon war, scandals that have seen the Israeli president resign and
> > the prime minister under multiple corruption investigations cast
> > shadows over this Independence Day celebration. The Olmert government
> > could fall and if elections were held today it is likely the next
> > prime minister would be Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes Palestinian
> > statehood and Bush's Annapolis initiative.
>
> > Abbas strengthens Netanyahu and the rejectionists when he tells
> > Israelis that the anniversary of their independence is a day of
> > mourning, and Palestinians will never recognize Israel as the homeland
> > of the Jewish people.
>
> > Jews were driven out of Arab lands in roughly the same number as Arabs
> > who fled Israel at the time of the creation of the Jewish state. The
> > difference was the Jews were absorbed into the new state, given jobs
> > and citizen****p, while the Palestinians were largely confined to
> > squalid camps in order for their unwilling Arab hosts to exploit them
> > as political pawns to use against Israel.
>
> > Sixty years later Palestinian statehood is as elusive as ever and the
> > Palestinians are still blaming their suffering on everyone but
> > themselves. Now that's a catastrophe.
>
>
>http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=3D1209627059753&pagename=3DJPo=
....
>
> > Deborah
>
> How many palesimians does it take to change a light bulb? None! They
> would rather sit in darkness and blame it on the Jews!-
That is pretty true... But it is still a blight on us, for letting
them act like that for the last 50 years or so..
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