Posted on 05/26/2005 6:13:16 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
Bush Praises Abbas, Says Israel Needs Palestinian Consent to Retain Formerly Arab Territory
Published: May 26, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush embraced Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday as a courageous democratic reformer and bolstered his standing at home with $50 million in assistance to improve the quality of life in Gaza.
Abbas, the first top Palestinian leader to visit the White House during Bush's presidency, said Palestinians were "in dire need to have freedom" from Israeli control and that the need for U.S. help was urgent. He spoke just weeks before scheduled parliamentary elections in which his supporters are vying against the militant group Hamas.
"Time is becoming our greatest enemy," Abbas said toward the end of a three-day visit during which he projected himself as the peaceful successor to Yasser Arafat and depicted the Palestinians as long suffering at the hands of Israel. Arafat, who died last November, was never invited to the White House by Bush.
Laying claim to all the land the Arabs lost to Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, including east Jerusalem, Abbas said, "It is time for our people, after many decades of suffering and dispossessions, to enjoy living in freedom on their own land."
The boundaries of a future Palestinian state should be those that existed before the 1967 war, he said, meaning before Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
At a joint news conference in the sunlit Rose Garden, Bush lent a measure of support to the Palestinians' territorial demands. He said Israel needed Palestinian consent to retain land the Arabs lost 38 years ago.
Any changes Israel made in expanding its boundaries since the end of the 1948 war for independence "must be mutually agreed to," Bush said. And he said Israel must remove illegal makeshift outposts from the West Bank and stop expanding Jewish settlements.
Notably, the president did not repeat the support he voiced last year during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for Israel retaining large settlements on the West Bank near Jerusalem.
Later, a senior administration official who refused to be identified said Bush stood by past statements supporting Israel's claims to the settlements. And while Abbas called for prompt negotiations with Israel on an overall peace accord, the official said the administration believes the parties were not ready and could risk a breakdown if they moved too quickly.
Despite the display of comity, Bush and Abbas differed on the barrier Israel is constructing to screen out terrorists.
Abbas said, "There is no justification for the wall and it is illegitimate."
Bush said the barrier was part of an Israeli security effort and it "must be a security rather than a political barrier."
Israeli officials attribute a sharp decline in terror attacks to the barrier.
Overall, the atmosphere at the White House was warm and in sharp contrast to the Bush administration's appraisal of Arafat as corrupt and a supporter of attacks on Israel.
Asked whether Abbas had moved aggressively to dismantle terror groups in Palestinian-held areas, Bush said he knew he leader was committed to democracy and was elected on a peace platform.
"You cannot have a democracy based upon rule of law if you have armed bands of people who will use their weapons to try to achieve a political outcome," Bush said.
Still, he did not directly call on Abbas to dismantle Palestinian terror groups, though he reaffirmed that Hamas fit that description as far as he was concerned.
Bush said he would send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East to talk to Israeli and Palestinian leaders before the planned Israeli withdrawal from Gaza this summer. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said she probably would go in mid-June.
In a show of support, Bush said he would provide $50 million to the Palestinian Authority, which Abbas heads. The money is to be used for new housing in Gaza, which Sharon plans to evacuate this summer.
To get around Arafat, all but $20 million in U.S. aid for the Palestinians over the past decade has been channeled to third parties, not the Palestinian Authority.
"These funds will be used to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians living in Gaza," the president said.
Boucher said the $50 million would come out of $200 million in U.S. aid already approved by Congress for the current year.
Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y., a senior member of the House Appropriations committee, said Abbas was engaged in a struggle with Hamas for the hearts and minds of the Palestinian people and needed "to bring real results to his people."
Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator, said in Ramallah the $50 million was a "modest beginning" and she was "sure the United States is capable of giving greater support not only to Gaza but also for the West Bank."
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On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov
State Department's Middle East Peace site: http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rt/c2829.htm
AP-ES-05-26-05 1949EDT
Patently abusrd, Mr. President.
Sharon sure did a great job buying support by kicking Gaza Jews in the teeth.
He's stating the obvious.
I do like America President this I do not like why I do feel Abbas is like Arafat evil this persons do not want Izrael!!!Arab persons do know what is strong America President be strong!!!!this is tactical atack this is total war!!!good and evil Abbas do not like Izrael!!!evil do not like good!!!Thank you
There was no Palestinian state before the 1967 war, or ever.
WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
Stop pissing away my $$$, shrub.
You total nitwit.
Why are we giving them 50 million when Arafat hid hundreds of millions away in European banks?
Let them get that money back first, and use it, before we send more good money after bad.
You're welcome. You can recognize evil.
Blackmail. Fifty million is merely a modest beginning, and they're sure we'll pony up many more millions. How long before Bush realizes he's been had? How many innocents have to die? The Palestinians don't know the first thing about setting up, much less running a civilized country, and, frankly, they have no desire to learn. Every failure, and there will be many, will be blamed on the evil US and the Jews and will serve as another opportunity for blackmail. It doesn't take Kreskin to read this crystal ball. They'll get hold of nukes, and then we'll stop playing patsy.
I could be wrong, but imo that's not what Sharon is doing. He recognizes that Israel doesn't have many friends, and a unilateral solution may be the only solution for the next few decades.
According to Bush, the Jews (God's chosen people) must give up Jerusalem (The Holy City, where Jesus will descend and reign on earth as the King, for 1000 years) to the godless Islamonazis...
And then he gives another 50,000,000 of our hard earned bucks to these terrorists so they can live more comfortably...All the while claiming we don't have enough money to pay a sufficient number of border patrol agents to keep out illegal aliens...
We are in big trouble...
You know, I do not know what goes on behind closed doors (that's why we have DEBKA) but we will see in a few days or weeks what all this was about.
Thank you all
I do want write this evil person Abbas go to France talk talk go to Germany talk talk this person Abbas do not go my country why truth Aushwitz Majdanek Zamosc Treblinka this person do not go Buhenwald Dahau Warsaw getto Krakow getto, no this person do not want truth!!!!America strong President I like you be strong!!!!today Izrael only have one good strong friend America America strong President remember Izrael!!!!America strong President this person Abbas is evil snake this person talk talk Thank you all Be strong Izrael!!!!
Thank you for being a strong friend to America, Sara! (and your husband, too!)
I agree. They are a class act and he has modeled an American form of leadership we have been sorely lacking for many years; at the least, since Reagan.
Unfortunately, he is about to shoot himself right in the foot on this deal. The treachery and deceit of radical, political Islam still holds sway in the Middle East, the very Arabs we count as allies in the war on terror supporting elements bitterly hostile towards America and Israel in the territories and the PA. Nothing has changed over there.
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