Posted on 01/11/2008 6:56:56 PM PST by silent_jonny
On his final day in Israel, President Bush toured Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres joined the president. (Transcript)
From there the president traveled to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, following in the footsteps of Christ as he visited the House of St. Peter and the Church of the Beatitudes.
Ed Gillespie: The President had fun on the tour, laughing with the nuns so often I joked with Chief of Staff Josh Bolten I was worried someone’s knuckles were going to get smacked with a ruler!
There was a farewell ceremony at Ben-Gurion International Airport as President Bush boarded Air Force One. He said that he would return to Israel in May to celebrate the country’s 60th anniversary.
During the flight to Kuwait, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to the press aboard Air Force One. (Transcript)
Q: So do you have any announcement of where we're going? Anything special?Secretary Rice: We're going to Kuwait. (Laughter.)
The Kuwaitis rolled out their own red carpet for President Bush as he arrived in Kuwait City. The president met with leaders there and spoke to them about Iran and the need to keep that country from developing a nuclear weapon.
Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island 
Quote of the Day:
President Bush:(speaking at the Holocaust Memorial) I guess I came away with this impression, that I was most impressed that people, in the face of horror and evil, would not forsake their God, and in the face of unspeakable crimes against humanity, brave souls young and old stood strong for what they believe.
Photo of the Day:
President George W. Bush is accompanied by two friars as he views the Sea of Galilee Friday, Jan. 11, 2008, during his visit to Capernaum before leaving Israel. According to Scripture, this is where Jesus walked upon the water.
Hi.
Nice photo. Prayers for a safe journey and return.
Good evening and thanks for the ping
Amen.
Hi, Kas :)
Ed Gillespie: After a later-than-usual dinner at Prime Minister Olmert’s residence last night with members of his cabinet, we were on the road early this morning to visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
Thanks for all your hard work, Jonny!
Yes...pray HARD that he is successful and that he gets home safely SOON!
Hi MamaB and congratulations
President George W. Bush walks with Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, center, as they arrive Friday, Jan. 11, 2008, to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, in Jerusalem, where the President laid a wreath in honor of Holocaust victims before departing Jerusalem for Galilee.
President George W. Bush listens to Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, as he visits the Hall of Names in Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, in Jerusalem Friday, Jan. 11, 2008. Joining the President in the visit are, from left, President Shimon Peres, of Israel; Josef Lapid, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Ed Gillespie: It’s hard to overstate the impact felt touring Yad Vashem. It is exceptionally well done, and brings a very personal dynamic to the historic atrocities of the Nazi Regime, including not only victims but the evil men who engaged in systematic genocide. Our guide said the decision to feature Third Reich leaders as part of an exhibit was somewhat controversial, but the decision was justified to my mind as people’s heads nodded up and down hearing our guide make the point that these men were not “monsters,” but ordinary individuals who committed extraordinary acts of evil.
Awesome photo of the day.
I can just hear the negative comments about “walking on
water”.....which he comes close to doing for us! :D
I am just kidding...but he is a good man!
President George W. Bush listens to Avner Shalev, Director of Yad Vashem.
NOTE: As you may have heard, Avner Shalev made headlines today when he reported President Bush said during the tour that the US should have bombed Auschwitz.
"We should have bombed it," Shalev, speaking in Hebrew, quoted Bush as saying.
As Freeper Ann Archy commented on this thread: “Good Grief...I would NOT believe this memorial guy to repeat exactly what Bush said.”
Exactly. The “quote”--which was an overheard fragment of conversation--was translated from English to Hebrew, then from Hebrew back to English.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who the president was actually speaking to when he made the comment, explained to the press:
We were talking about the often discussed "could the United States have done more by bombing the train tracks." And so we were just talking about the various explanations that had been given about why that might not have been done. That was all. It wasn't a major discussion. It was an exhibit about the train tracks. And so we were just talking about the various explanations because, you know, there are three or four different explanations about why the United States chose not to try to bomb the train tracks.
Not Aushwitz.
A Rabbi sings during a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Friday, Jan. 11, 2008
President George W. Bush looks on during a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem, Friday, Jan. 11, 2008.
Thanks for the dose what a lovely photo for the opening one that sea looks lovely.
Ed Gillespie:After the museum tour, President Bush on behalf of the United States rekindled the Eternal Flame at Yad Vashem and laid a wreath on a memorial slab under which are interred the remains of Jews who were among the millions murdered at six different death camps.
President George W. Bush rekindles the eternal flame commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust, in the Hall of Remembrance in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Friday, Jan. 11, 2008
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