| |
Bush denounces extremists in Middle East
Jerusalem—President Bush on Thursday criticized the
deadly tactics of extremist groups like al-Qaida, Hezbollah and
Hamas and said he looks toward the day when Muslims “recognize the
emptiness of the terrorists’ vision and the injustice of their
cause.”
In a speech prepared for delivery to the Knesset, or parliament,
Bush pledged that the United States has an unbreakable bond with
Israel.
“Some people suggest that if the United States would just break ties
with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away,”
Bush said in his prepared address. “This is a tired argument that
buys into the propaganda of our enemies, and America rejects it
utterly. Israel’s population may be just over 7 million. But when
you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because
America stands with you.”
Bush took special aim at Iran and said the United States stands with
Israel in opposing moves by Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons.
“Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the
world’s deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future
generations,” the president said. “For the sake of peace, the world
must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Bush previously has set a goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian
agreement before the end of his term. But with just eight months
remaining in his presidency, Bush’s speech offered no suggestions on
how to resolve the thorniest disputes over the borders of an
eventual Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and its
contested holy sites and the rights of Palestinians to return to
land inside present-day Israel.
There was only one mention of the Palestinians in Bush’s prepared
remarks and no timetable for achieving a Palestinian state. The only
reference came in a passage envisioning the future of Israel 60
years from now. “Israel will be celebrating its 120th anniversary as
one of the world’s great democracies, a secure and flourishing
homeland for the Jewish people,” Bush said. “The Palestinian people
will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved a
democratic state that is governed by law, respects human rights, and
rejects terror.
“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. 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.”
The effort to reach an Israeli-Palestinian accord this year seemed
increasingly unlikely even before Bush’s trip. And fresh
difficulties greeted him upon arrival, with Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert weakened by a widening corruption probe and talk of
possible new settlement activity in the West Bank.—AP
|
