Bush envisions a democratic Middle East free of oppression

By Jennifer Loven
Associated Press
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008 8:29 a.m. MDT
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JERUSALEM — President Bush feted Israel on Thursday in honor of the 60th anniversary of its founding and predicted that its 120th birthday would find it alongside a Palestinian state and in an all-democratic neighborhood free of today's oppression, restrictions on freedom and extremist Muslim movements.

Delivering this rosy forecast for the Middle East in 2068 during a speech to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Bush limited his mention of Palestinians to just one sentence. "The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved, a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror," he said.

This scant talk of the other side of one of the world's longest-running disputes contrasted jarringly with the more expansive treatment of the subject by Bush's Israeli hosts.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the lawmakers that he is working hard for an accord and believes "when the day comes for a historic peace agreement" that both the Knesset and the Israeli public will support it "by a large majority." The chamber reacted with silence and nervous laughter, which Bush briefly joined. Two hardline lawmakers walked out of the chamber in protest during Olmert's address.

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Bush made no acknowledgment of the hardship Palestinians suffered when the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 displaced hundreds of thousands, a fact that serves as a counterpoint to Israel's two weeks of jubilant celebrations. Though Bush has set a goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal before the end of his term in January, he did not mention the ongoing negotiations or how to resolve the thorniest disputes.

The president also offered no detail on how the broader Mideast would move from today's realities to his vision.

"From Cairo and Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy, tourism and trade," he said. "Iran and Syria will be peaceful nations, where today's oppression is a distant memory and people are free to speak their minds and develop their talents. And al-Qaida, Hezbollah and Hamas will be defeated, as Muslims across the region recognize the emptiness of the terrorists' vision and the injustice of their cause."

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush made such a brief mention of the Palestinians because his purpose was to sketch "broad themes and not the specifics of the process."

Johndroe also suggested that the Knesset wasn't the best place to talk in detail about the concerns of Palestinians. Bush was to meet later Thursday with international Mideast envoy Tony Blair precisely to discuss conditions in the Palestinian territories and then see Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

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Bush tried Yale and Harvard. I suggest a term at BYU to open his...

Carl | May 15, 2008 at 4:09 p.m.

We have no God in our Democracy; the Middle East has Allah, our God...

Marie Devine | May 15, 2008 at 4:07 p.m.

Wonder how many Bush lovers are fighting his war for him or are just...

jr | May 15, 2008 at 2:23 p.m.