Bush's Middle East Peace Mission Bombs

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Tag(s): Arab; Bush Admin; Bush Admin Vacations; Bush Failed Fiscal Policy; Bush Failed Policy International; Bush Failure-in-Chief; Bush Liar-in-Chief; Bush Vacations; Gulf; King; Middle East; Peace; Peace; Peace_War; Weapons
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January 25, 2008 at 15:46:10

Bush's Middle East Peace Mission Bombs

by Mick Youther Page 1 of 2 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com

George W. Bush recently made a trip to the Middle East, presumably to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians; and to spread truth, justice and the American way to all the nations of the region.

Mr. Bush’s trip began with a warm reception in Tel Aviv, Israel, but his plan to fly on to Jerusalem by helicopter was scrapped after a couple of Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon. Instead, the east-bound highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was closed, disrupting traffic for several hours, while Bush made the trip by motorcade.

Mr. Bush stayed at the King David hotel in Jerusalem, where eight truckloads of equipment had arrived in preparation for his two-night stay. The Bush entourage took all 237 rooms at the King David, and the hotel reservations of hundreds of tourists and visitors were cancelled across Jerusalem to make room for the overflow of Bushies, media, and Israeli officials.

· “The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported that Bush was being accompanied by 20 armored limousines, 400 U.S. security personnel, 200 White House staffers, 15 canine teams, helicopters and transport planes. The newspaper said an aerostat that contains advanced sensors and cameras has been hovering above Bush’s hotel.”--WorldTribune.com, 1/9/08

It soon became clear that Mr. Bush’s visit was less about making peace and more about rallying opposition to Iran’s influence in the region. Wherever Bush went, he warned:

· “Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late.”--George W. Bush, United Arab Emirates, 1/14/08

Prior to his trip, Mr. Bush had warned, “[If Iran were to strike Israel] We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts.” (He didn’t say what “we” would do if Israel were to strike Iran.) Throughout his trip, Bush hyped a recent “confrontation” between U.S. warships and Iranian patrol boats in Persian Gulf:

· “So the Iranians ... better be careful and not be provocative and get out there and cause an incident. Because there’s going to be serious consequences. What I said in my statement was, if they hit one of our ships there’s going to be serious consequences. And I meant it.”--George W. Bush, CNN, 1/16/08 (Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, Commander of the 5th Fleet, had already stated that there had been no such confrontation.)

When Bush wasn’t too busy sightseeing or hyping the Iranian threat, he managed to offer a few words about freedom and democracy in countries which had neither.

· “To the people of the Middle East: We hear your cries for justice. We share your desire for a free and prosperous future. And as you struggle to find your voice and make your way in this world, the United States will stand with you.”--George W. Bush, United Arab Emirates, 1/14/08

· “The dignity and sovereignty that is your right is within your reach,”--George W. Bush, addressing the Palestinian people, AP 1/13/08 (It is unclear how many Palestinians in the Gaza strip heard the speech, since they were without electricity because Israel had cut off their fuel supplies.)

Nobody was too impressed with Bush’s platitudes:

· “ ... no Palestinian, no Arab believes, he will, or can, deliver. ... Everything he touches turns to dust and ashes. Iraq, Afghanistan, maybe now even Iran.”-- Arab News editorial, 1/12/08

· “It is impossible to feel any excitement about Bush’s words, because no Palestinian, no Arab believes he will, or can, deliver. We have the Bush record with its damning testimony of failure and disaster.”-- Arab News, quoted in Time, 1/16/08

· “There is no credibility to his words after what the region saw during his presidency. ...American policy threw the region off-balance and destabilized it.”-- Mohamed Fayek, director of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, Cairo, Egypt, McClatchy Newspapers, 1/16/07

...and they were even less interested in joining Mr. Bush’s crusade against Iran.

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Mick Youther is an American citizen, an independent voter, a veteran, a parent, a Christian, a scientist, a writer, and all-around nice guy who has been aroused from a comfortable apathy by the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration.

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Eileen is the Reporter and Editor of wearewideawake.orgProducer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" She has been to Israel Palestine five times since June 2005.
She is currently working on "The Boom Boom Benny Story"
Eileen FlemingEileen is the Reporter and Editor of wearewideawake.orgProducer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" She has been to Israel Palestine five times since June 2005.
She is currently working on "The Boom Boom Benny Story"

The "O" Word , SURGES and Jesus Christ!

On January 10, 2008, when President George W. Bush said, "There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967," a surge of hope inflamed me.

"Missing from Israel's security framing is the very fact of occupation, which Israel both denies exists and excises from all utterances."-Jeff Halper, page 1, Obstacles to Peace.

For Bush to say the "O" word while in Israel was a major step into reality.

I experienced a second surge of hope, when President Bush also warned Israel of its obligations to negotiate a "contiguous" independent Palestinian state. Bush admitted what anyone who looks at a map of the 'Holy' Land understands are Bantustans and that the "Swiss cheese isn't going to work when it comes to the outline of a state."

President Bush also said there must be "painful compromises" and for that to happen we American tax payers must become more politically engaged and rise up and speak out about where our money is laid down.

Human beings have rights and nations and states have obligations.

Bush acknowledged the rights of 4.4 million Palestinian diaspora refugees to receive compensation, but he ignored Article 13-2, of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS which Israel agreed to uphold when it became a state and which affirms: Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

What has been missing in every peace process and in the Road Map is the issue of human rights and international law.

When leaders fail us, it is up to we the people to rise up and lead them in the way they should go and to remind them of their promises.

Today, January 26, Israeli secularists, atheists, agnostics, anarchists, rebels and revolutionaries are doing what JC commanded his followers to do:

Forgive ones 'enemy' and LOVE and DO GOOD unto them and the least and oppressed,

Today, January 26, 2008 is an international day of solidarity with the 1.5 million Gazan's.

Today, in Israel A Convoy of Justice and Peace is SURGING at the Erez Checkpoint:

Led by:

Gush Shalom, Combatants for Peace, Coalition of Women for Peace, ICAHD – The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Bat Shalom, Bat Tzafon for Peace and Equality, Balad, Hadash, Adalah, Tarabut- Hithabrut, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, AIC – The Alternative Information Center, Psychoactive – Mental Health Workers for Human Rights, ActiveStills, The Students Coalition (Tel Aviv University), New Profile, MachsomWatch, PCATI – The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Yesh Gvul, Gisha, Local Television on the Internet, Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue, “On the Left Side”, and Faculty for Palestinian-Israeli Peace (Israel).

PRESS RELEASE:

Due to military closure order, rally moved to Erez

Army closes down hilltop site of planned Saturday rally at the conclusion of Gaza supply convoy; rally will take place instead outside Erez Checkpoint, after car convoy and protest march by foot Parallel Palestinian demonstration due inside Strip

This morning police suddenly informed organizers of the countrywide Gaza Supply Convoy, due tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 26) that the army has forbidden the holding of the concluding rally on a hilltop overlooking the Gaza Strip (to which no objection was made earlier). The army even intends to surround the site with barbed wire to prevent access. There is no time to lodge a Supreme Court appeal, and organizers decided to have the rally at Erez Checkpoint, use of which is denied to Gazans.

The authorities’ move makes it impossible to have direct eye contact between the simultaneous Israeli and Palestinian rallies tomorrow, but there will still be phone contact and exchange of a message of peace and solidarity across the sealed border.

As noted in earlier messages, the humanitarian supply convoy will set out tomorrow morning, Saturday, 26 January 2008, from Nazareth, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva and meet up at 12.00 noon at Yad Mordechai Junction. From Yad Mordechai the protest convoy will go southwards, a long line of trucks, buses and private cars all decked with “Lift the Blockade!”signs. About half a kilometre ahead of the checkpoint, participants will march on foot, carrying signs and personal packages of supplies prepared by Israeli families for the Gazans. At 13:00 the rally will take place outside the locked gates of Erez Checkpoint. Speakers will include Shulamit Aloni, Uri Avnery, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Issam Makhoul, Fatmeh el-Ajou, Rana Nashashibi, Suliman Al-Hatib and Jeff Halper. The convoy and rally will take place under all weather conditions.

As noted, there will be a phone link with the parallel demonstration due at the same hour in Gaza City at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the keynote speaker will psychiatrist and human rights activist Dr. Eyad Sarraj. A parallel Palestinian demonstration is also expected in Ramallah. Simultaneous demonstrations will take place in Rome, Modena, Bologna, Grosseto, Naples, Milan, Paris, Poitiers, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Nantes, Orleans, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London, Montreal, Los Angeles, Chicago, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sydney, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, San Diego, Toronto, Cape Town and elsewhere across the globe – with a considerable participation of Jewish groups opposed to the policies of the Government of Israel.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. ... Genius will not. ... Education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."- Calvin Coolidge

Secular society in Israel has risen up [intifada in Arabic] and is leading the leaders of the world in the way they must go if there is ever to be security for Israel and peace in the Middle East.

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