Bush Outlines Mideast Peace Plan
President Bush outlined Thursday in the clearest terms so far the shape of a two-state peace treaty he is hoping to broker between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of his term. He called for redrawing borders and compensating Palestinians and their descendants for homes they left in what is now Israel. ....
... Mr. Bush said, “I believe that any peace agreement between them will require mutually agreed adjustments to the armistice lines of 1949 to reflect current realities and to ensure that the Palestinian state is viable and contiguous.”
He added, “I believe we need to look to the establishment of a Palestinian state and new international mechanisms, including compensation, to resolve the refugee issue.” ...
The article poignantly concludes:
... Foul weather brought Mr. Bush unexpectedly in contact with Israel security measures that have become a main grievance for Palestinians and their leaders. His helicopter grounded, Mr. Bush drove in a motorcade to Ramallah, passing through an Israeli checkpoint in the hulking concrete barrier the Israelis have erected along and inside parts of the border with the West Bank.
Asked about his own impressions seeing the barrier for the first time, Mr. Bush acknowledged Israel’s security measures and the hardships they cause.
“Checkpoints create frustrations for people,” he said. “They create a sense of security for Israel; they create massive frustrations for the Palestinians. You’ll be happy to hear that my motorcade of a mere 45 cars was able to make it through without being stopped, but I’m not so exactly sure that’s what happens to the average person.”
....but there is a long way to go, and no trust in President Bush among Palestinians.
Many Palestinians Offer a Bleak Opinion of Bush
It would be much better if he didn’t visit our land at all,” said Bashar Fadl Ahmed, 34, an orthopedic surgeon who was shopping in the town square early this week, echoing sentiments expressed by many here. “He won’t achieve anything. He is trying to do something in his last year, but where was he before?” ..... “He’s the worst, Bush,” said a 64-year-old man who identified himself only as Abu Muhammad. “He supports Israel and mocks and deceives us.” .... “He has destroyed everything, and now he is coming to see the results,” said Moussa al-Hilou, 63, who owns a clothing store. “What Palestinian state is he talking about? What he says is nonsense, even our leadership knows that.”
The same skepticism seems to prevail throughout the West Bank and Gaza. In a December poll of 1,270 Palestinians conducted face-to-face by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, an independent institute based in Ramallah, 23 percent of those surveyed expected that the sides would reach a permanent agreement before 2009, and 72 percent expected that they would not. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus three percentage points. ....
“We hope he will see our suffering, and how the Israeli occupation deals with the Palestinian people and land,” he said. “I hope he is sincere and honest and will do something.”
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