BUSH INSISTS PEACE IN A YEAR

Text of President Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas The Associated PressPublished: January 10, 2008

Q: Mr. President George Bush — you launched war against Iraq after the Iraqi leadership refused to implement the United Nations resolutions. My question now is, what is the problem to ask Israel just to accept and to respect the United Nations resolutions relating to the Palestinian problem, which — facilitating the achievement of ending the Israeli occupation to the Arab territories and facilitating also the solution between Palestinians and the Israelis?

And for Mahmoud Abbas, did you ask President George Bush to ask Israel to freeze settlements fully in order to enable negotiations from success?

BUSH: Yes, but tell me the part about the U.N. thing again? What were you — I couldn't understand you very well.

Q: I just asked why you ask Israel to accept the United Nations resolutions related to the Palestinian problem, just to facilitate the solution, and to end the occupation.

BUSH: Actually, I'm asking Israel to negotiate in good faith with an elected leader of the Palestinian Territory to come up with a permanent solution that — look, the U.N. deal didn't work in the past. And so now we're going to have an opportunity to redefine the future by having a state negotiated between an elected leader of the Palestinian people, as well as the Prime Minister of Israel. This is an opportunity to move forward. And the only way for — the only way to defeat the terrorists in the long run is to offer an alternative vision that is more hopeful. And that's what we're attempting to do, sir.

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Priorities in India: First buy a car, then learn to driveECB and Fed lay out sharply different pathsGender takes center stage in Democratic primariesWe can stay stuck in the past, which will yield nothing good for the Palestinians, in my judgment. We can chart a hopeful future, and that's exactly what this process is intending to do; to redefine the future for the Palestinian citizens and the Israelis.

I'm confident that two democratic states living side by side in peace is in the interests not only of the Palestinians and the Israelis, but of the world. The question is whether or not the hard issues can be resolved and the vision emerges, so that the choice is clear amongst the Palestinians -- the choice being, do you want this state, or do you want the status quo? Do you want a future based upon a democratic state, or do you want the same old stuff? And that's a choice that I'm confident that if the Palestinian people are given, they will choose peace.

And so that's what we're trying to do, sir.

ABBAS: The settlement for us is considered an obstacle for negotiations, and we have spoke more than once with Mr. Prime Minister Olmert, very frankly. And we also spoke in this meeting with President George Bush, and consequently, the President understood this issue. And we have heard the statements given by the Secretary of State, Dr. Rice, and she has — her point of view regarding settlements was very positive.

Q: President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert said that peace is not alive here as long as Gaza militants continue their threats on Israel. How do you see, President, about — (inaudible) — from Gaza?

And for you, President Abbas, how do you intend, actually, to get control of Gaza, and do you think this is possible by the end of the year and by the end of Mr. Bush's presidency?

BUSH: First of all, Gaza is a tough situation. I don't know whether you can solve it in a year, or not. But I know this: It can't be solved unless the Prime Minister — the President has a vision that he can lay out to the people of Gaza that says, here's your choice: Do you want those who have created chaos to run your country, or do you want those of us who negotiated a settlement with the Israelis that will lead to lasting peace?

There is a competing vision taking place in Gaza. And in my judgment, Hamas, which I felt ran on a campaign of, we're going to improve your lives through better education and better health, have delivered nothing but misery. And I'm convinced his government will yield a hopeful future. And the best way to make that abundantly clear is for there to be a vision that's understandable.

See, the past has just been empty words, you know. We — actually it hasn't been that much — I'm the only President that's really articulated a two-state solution so far — but saying two states really doesn't have much bearing until borders are defined, right of return issues resolved, Jerusalem is understood, security measures — the common security measures will be in place. That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a clear, defined state around which people can rally.

And there's going to be — there will be no better difference, a clear difference, than the vision of Hamas in Gaza and the vision of the President and the Prime Minister and his team based here in Ramallah. And to me, that's how you solve the issue in the long-term. And the definition of long-term, I don't know what it means. I'm not a timetable person — actually, I am on a timetable — got 12 months. (Laughter.) But I'm impressed by the President's understanding about how a vision and a hopeful future will help clearly define the stakes amongst the Palestinian people.

ABBAS: Gaza it is considered a coup by us, we consider it a coup d'etat what happened in Gaza. Now -- we consider it a coup d'etat. (Laughter.) And we deal with Gaza at two levels. The first is that we deal with the people as part of us and we take full responsibility that is necessary towards our people. We spend in Gaza 58 percent of our budget. This is not to — it is our duty towards our people that we provide them with all the need.

As for the issue of Hamas, we said that this is a coup and they have to retreat from this coup and they have to recognize international legitimacy, all international legitimacy, and to recognize the Arab Initiative, as well. In this case we will have another talk.

BUSH: Thank you, all.

Bush predicts Mideast peace treaty By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer JAN 10,08

RAMALLAH, West Bank - President Bush, summing up meetings with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, said Thursday that a peace accord will require painful political concessions by each. Resolving the status of Jerusalem will be hard, he said, and he called for the end of the occupation of Arab land by the Israeli military. Now is the time to make difficult choices, Bush said after a first-ever visit to the Palestinian territories, which followed separate meetings with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem the day before.Bush is in the Mideast for eight days, trying to bolster his goal of achieving a long-elusive peace agreement by the end of his presidency in a year. Speaking at his hotel in Jerusalem, he said again that he thinks that is possible.I am committed to doing all I can to achieve it, Bush said. Within minutes, Bush's national security adviser Stephen Hadley said the president would return to the Middle East at least once and maybe more over the next year. He wouldn't elaborate on possible destinations, but another White House official said Bush is likely to return for Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May.

Bush gave his most detailed summation yet of what a final peace should include, including U.S. expectations for the resolution of some of the hardest issues in the violent conflict, one of the world's longest-running and most intractable. He used tough language intended to put both sides on notice that he sees no reason they cannot get down to serious business, starting right now.In his set of U.S. bottom lines were security for Israel, a contiguous state for the Palestinians and the expectation that final borders will be negotiated to accommodate territorial changes since Israel's formation 60 years ago.He made a point of using a loaded term — occupation — to describe Israeli control over land that would eventually form the bulk of an independent Palestinian state. That he did so in Jerusalem underscored that he is trying not to seem partial to Israel.On borders, Bush said any agreement will require adjustments to the lines drawn for Israel in the late 1940s. He was referring to Israeli neighborhoods on disputed lands that Israel would keep when an independent Palestinian state is formed.At the same time, Bush reiterated that Palestinians deserve better than a Swiss cheese state, and that a state wouldn't be viable otherwise.The point of departure for permanent status negotiations to realize this vision seems clear, he said. There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967. The agreement must establish a Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush was referring to the West Bank when he spoke of occupation.Bush offered no specifics to resolve the fate of disputed Jerusalem, but urged both sides to work toward a solution in what he said could be the most difficult issue to settle in a long list of them.I know Jerusalem is a tough issue, Bush said. Both sides have deeply felt political and religious concerns.It is vital that each side understands that satisfying the other's fundamental objectives is key to a successful agreement, the president said. Security for Israel and viability for the Palestinian state are in the mutual interests of both parties.Hadley said that Bush wasn't announcing new U.S. policy with any of his statements, but was trying to reiterate the American position all in one place. The important thing ... is what he's beginning to hear from the Palestinian and the Israeli side, he said.Bush spent most of his day in the Palestinian West Bank, seeking to counter Palestinians' skepticism about his commitment to Mideast peace.He undercut that message somewhat by saying it may not be possible to resolve this year the current, violent split in Palestinian leadership — vital to a deal establishing an independent state. The militant group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June, meaning the Palestinian people — and the land that could eventually form an independent Palestine — are split between governance by Hamas there and by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah-led government in the West Bank. The president is not stopping in Gaza.

Bush had harsh criticism for Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas, he said, was elected to help improve the lot of Palestinians, but has delivered nothing but misery.The question is whether or not hard issues can be resolved and the vision emerges, so that the choice is clear amongst the Palestinians, Bush said at Abbas' side at his government's headquarters in Ramallah. The choice being, Do you want this state? Or do you want the status quo? Do you want a future based upon a democratic state? Or do you want the same old stuff? We want a state, of course, Abbas said in English. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Bush's comments a declaration of war.Bush's visit and remarks today have indicated that his visit came to support the occupation and has brought nothing to the Palestinian people but evil, the Hamas spokesman said. Bush's West Bank visit has generated little excitement among Palestinians, who doubt his promises to try to move along Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Bush has kept Mideast peace at arm's length until now, and the U.S. is perceived in the Palestinian areas in any case as a staunch ally of Israel, at the expense of the Palestinians.

Abbas, however, said Bush's visit gives our people great hope.The Palestinian leader called on Israel to fulfill its commitments under a 2003 U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan. The plan, known as the roadmap, calls on Israel to halt settlement activity in the West Bank, while requiring the Palestinians to dismantle militant groups. Neither side has fully carried out its obligations. Bush has named Lt. Gen. William Fraser III, assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to monitor steps that both sides are making on the peace process, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. That, too, met with approval by Palestinian officials. It's one of the positive signs of the visit, said Mohammed Mustafa, economic adviser to Abbas. With his presidency over a year from now, Bush said he knows I've got 12 months.Bush said Israel needs to help Palestinians modernize their security forces, and jabbed Israel for security polices that could carve up Palestinian territory into unworkable or ungovernable chunks. Swiss cheese isn't going to work when it comes to the outline of a state, Bush said. In Jerusalem, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said his government shares the belief that the current status quo is far from desirable.The president also said that he understands Palestinian frustrations over checkpoints throughout the West Bank but says they're necessary for now to give Israelis a sense of security. Bush's sympathy about the daily hassle checkpoints pose for Palestinians trying to move around the West Bank followed an unexpected firsthand view of them.

Fog demanded that Bush be driven from Jerusalem to Ramallah, instead of going by helicopter. On his drive, Bush passed through a security checkpoint, and within sight of the concrete walls of Israel's West Bank separation barrier, which Palestinians views as an illegal land grab. After the new conference with Abbas, Bush flew to Bethlehem. Along the way, signs in English proclaimed Occupation is terrorism and commanded the United States to stop giving aid to occupation and death to our children.The president toured the Church of the Nativity and toured the grotto, or cave, beneath which many believe is the birthplace of Christ. Outside, he thanked some monks and again lamented the many restrictions on Palestinian life in Bethlehem. Associated Press Writers Mohammed Daraghmeh and Diaa Hadid in Ramallah contributed to this report.

Bush names general to monitor Mideast roadmap JAN 10,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has named a former B-52 bomber pilot, Lieutenant General William Fraser, to supervise Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the roadmap peace blueprint, the White House said Thursday. The announcement came on the second day of Bush's visit to the region when he said he believed a Middle East peace treaty would be signed before his term in office ends in January 2009.A former B-52 bomber pilot and pilot trainer, Fraser joined the air force in 1974 and is currently assistant to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the US military, with particular emphasis on international relations and politico-military concerns.The announcement was made by White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.The internationally-drafted roadmap was launched in 2003 but has made virtually no progress since then, although last month Israel and the Palestinians agreed to revive peace negotiations at US-sponsored talks in Annapolis outside Washington.Under the Annapolis agreement, both sides committed to immediately implement their respective obligations under the performance-based roadmap to a permanent two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The agreement also says Washington will monitor and judge the fulfillment of the commitment of both sides to the roadmap, which initially calls for the Palestinians to halt violence and Israel to freeze settlement activity.

Bush hardens tone, urges end to Israeli occupation By Jeffrey Heller and Matt Spetalnick JAN 10,08

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush, hardening his tone towards Israel on Thursday, urged an end to the occupation of the West Bank and pushed for a peace treaty to be signed within a year to create a Palestinian state. The United States rarely uses the politically charged word occupation to describe Israel's hold on lands captured in a 1967 war. It is a term Palestinians seeking a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip employ frequently to describe their plight.The establishment of the state of Palestine is long overdue. The Palestinian people deserve it, Bush said in a statement he read to reporters in a Jerusalem hotel.Bush's language, after he traveled to the West Bank city of Ramallah past Israeli checkpoints and settlements, could cause political pain to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose right-wing coalition partners usually bridle at such remarks.There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967, Bush said. He had earlier met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and visited Bethlehem, also in the West Bank.Bush pressed the Palestinians to rein in militants. He said any negotiations must also ensure Israel has secure, recognized and defensible borders alongside a viable, contiguous, sovereign and independent Palestine.

Challenging skeptics of his new push for peace on the first U.S. presidential visit to Ramallah, he told a news conference with Abbas: I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office.Critics say Bush, who steps down in January 2009, has failed to deploy Washington's full weight in seeking to end the 60-year-old conflict during his first seven years in office.A summit he hosted at Annapolis in November ended a hiatus in negotiations since 2000.But many doubt differences can be overcome now, as Bush seeks to burnish his legacy in the Middle East after five years of war in Iraq. Olmert is politically weak and Abbas cannot control the Gaza Strip, which Hamas Islamists seized in June.

COMPROMISE

Bush reiterated in the keynote statement a vision of territorial compromise he first charted in a policy letter to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2004, advocating mutually agreed changes in armistice lines set in 1949 after fighting with Arab armies that accompanied Israel's foundation.Bush said he had urged Abbas and Olmert, whom he met on Wednesday and again on Thursday evening, to make sure their teams negotiate seriously, starting right now.His use of the term peace treaty was seen by some as an indication he was not ready to settle for a vaguer framework agreement which Israeli and Palestinian officials have said Olmert thinks is all that is feasible before Bush steps down.Bush also reaffirmed a U.S. commitment to a 2003 peace road map under which Israel was to halt settlement activity and Palestinians were to crack down on militants.On the Israeli side, that includes ending settlement expansion and removing unauthorized outposts. On the Palestinian side that includes confronting terrorists and dismantling terrorist infrastructure, the president said.

Security is fundamental. No agreement and no Palestinian state will be born of terror. I reaffirm America's steadfast commitment to Israel's security.The White House announced Bush had appointed U.S. Lieutenant-General William Fraser to monitor steps both sides are supposed to take under the road map as part of a peace process revived at the international summit in Annapolis. Preparing to head to the Gulf on Friday, Bush said he would urge Arab states to reach out to Israel. Speaking earlier at the Muqata compound where the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was besieged by Israeli forces just a few years ago, Abbas hailed Bush as the first U.S. president to commit fully to back a Palestinian state. After the meeting, Bush flew by helicopter to the West Bank city of Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus. There the president, a devout Christian, spoke of his hope for a divine gift of freedom for all people and an end to the Israeli walls and checkpoints that ring the Palestinian town. (Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Alastair Macdonald, Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Adam Entous in Jerusalem, Editing by Robert Woodward)

Bush prays in Bethlehem amid sea of barricades by Joseph Krauss JAN 10,08

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) - Security forces flooded Bethlehem on Thursday as US President George W. Bush prayed at the traditional birthplace of Jesus at the start of a pilgrimage to some of Christianity's holiest sites. The president -- a fervent Christian -- landed by helicopter and then was whisked to the Church of the Nativity in a motorcade through streets largely deserted as part of a massive security operation aimed at protecting him.After a short tour of the sixth century Byzantine church he descended into the Grotto of the Nativity, an underground chapel glimmering with hanging lanterns, where he lit a candle at the believed site of Jesus's birth.For those of us who practise the Christian faith, there isn't a more holy site than where our saviour was born, Bush said as he came out of the church.
Thousands of Palestinian security forces had fanned out across the town in the occupied West Bank at dawn, shutting off all major roads to the church and sharply limiting pedestrian traffic along empty streets with shuttered shops.

Snipers patrolled the roof of the church near a hanging plastic Santa Claus left over from Christmas, while Bush remained inside for less than an hour.We are excited, of course, it's a great event, the Greek patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, said after Bush's motorcade roared away from the church, his face beaming through a thick grey beard.We wanted to send a message to all the world that the place is safe and all people can come and pray here, he added.But Bush's visit to the West Bank -- only the second to the Palestinian territories by a sitting US president -- failed to impress the locals.He comes here, they close all the shops, they don't let us work, said Alaa, a 26-year-old Christian who works at a restaurant near Manger Square in front of the church and who was sent home ahead of Bush's arrival.Elite Palestinian presidential guards used metal barriers to push small groups of onlookers back up the streets leading to the empty square as helicopters buzzed overhead.Several dozen youths gathered behind barricades near Manger Square, but every time they tried to cheer, police silenced them.

Stop making so much noise, show some respect, one policeman snapped at kids behind the barricade. There are journalists here.
Amid the massive security operation, few Bethlehem residents caught a glimpse of the president, widely unpopular among Palestinians because of his perceived overwhelming support of Washington's close ally Israel.They closed everything. What is he so afraid of? World leaders come here all the time, said Rami, a Christian shopowner.I think he is scared because he has so many enemies, because he has slaughtered so many people in Iraq. Bethlehem's own mayor Victor Batarseh was not invited to the ceremony because he is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which the US State Department considers a terror organisation.I have not been told anything. I was simply asked to have the streets cleaned, which has been done, the 72-year-old Christian mayor said. Residents said the security measures were far more draconian than the last time a US president visited -- 1998's trip by Bill Clinton. When Clinton came he spent some time with us. He ate here, said an older woman with a headscarf tucked into a heavy winter coat. Don't use my name or they will think I am a terrorist, she added with a smile. A couple dozen demonstrators gathered on the outskirts of Bethlehem, waving Palestinian flags, pictures of family members in Israeli jails, and signs saying Stop Israeli terror and Set our prisoners free.
Bush's first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since taking office is primarily aimed at encouraging revived peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a regional tour which will include Arab allies.

But Bush will also be tracing the footsteps of Jesus Christ, whom he once described as his favourite philosopher and whose teachings he says have informed his presidency, including his divisive foreign policies. On Friday Bush will fly north to the Galilee, where Jesus delivered many of his most famous teachings, including the Sermon on the Mount in which he said Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Ramallah demo brands Bush 'war criminal' by Hossam Ezzedine Thu Jan 10, 8:23 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Angry demonstrators in the West Bank town of Ramallah branded US President George W. Bush a war criminal on Thursday as locals said he would do nothing for the plight of the Palestinians. Security forces, out in force to ensure the security of the American leader on his first trip to the occupied Palestinian territory, used batons and tear gas as they charged around 200 demonstrators who were chanting Bush, war criminal! and Bush out!.While their leader Mahmud Abbas gave Bush a red carpet welcome on the second day of his Middle East tour, ordinary Palestinians were dismisssive.I don't believe he will do anything for the Palestinians, said Mohammed Khaldi, 64. If he wanted to really do something, he had six years for that and he didn't do a single thing.

Around 4,000 security officers sealed off the area around the Palestinian Authority compound known as the Muqata to pedestrian and vehicle traffic, with numerous checkpoints set up to verify the identification of any passers-by.Bush was in the West Bank on the latest leg of a trip aimed at pushing forward the peace process, which has stumbled since its revival six weeks ago over Jewish settlements and Israeli-Palestinian violence.He had been due to fly into Ramallah aboard his Marine One helicopter but was grounded by thick fog which covered the city and nearby Jerusalem, so was forced to travel in a road convoy instead.Armed Israeli soldiers lined the route from the King David Hotel to the Beit El checkpoint where military responsibility switched to Palestinian control as the presidential limousine hurtled along the normally congested streets.Snipers and spotters scoured the area as security chiefs took no chances with the safety of the US leader with about 4,000 men law enforcement officers out on the streets.

Authorities issued an order banning locals from climbing on to rooftops to watch the arrival of only the second sitting US president to visit the Palestinian territories.The area was under an effective curfew after security chiefs compiled a list of the names of residents living within the security cordon around the leadership compound and banned outsiders from entering the zone.
But these measures, combined with Bush's failure to stop at the mausoleum of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- usually an obligation for visiting dignitaries -- angered residents.It is to be expected that he would not visit Arafat's tomb, because the United States are partly responsible for his death, said greengrocer Yasser Iqab, 36.Rasha Qawas, 36, who lives near the Muqata, chose to leave her home and stay with her brother during Bush's visit and said she felt the US president had showed contempt for Palestinian tradition.The Americans are proud of their history and their symbols. By ignoring the mausoleum set up as our monument to historic leader Yasser Arafat, Bush is showing contempt for all our sacrifices, she said.Mohammad al-Batrawi, who also lives nearby, said he was not surprised by Bush's snub, since the US leader had boycotted Arafat during the last years of his life.I never expected Bush to visit Arafat's mausoleum because it was the symbol of our fight and the American president never became involved with that, he said.After meeting Abbas, Bush travelled on to pray in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, the first stop on his pilgrimage to some of Christianity's holiest sites.