Bush’s Visit
George Bush has received all sorts of media coverage from his three day visit to Israel and the West Bank. There has been mixed responses from both sides, mostly skepticism from the Palestinians about Bush’s ability to bring about real change in the region based on his unhelpful influence during the first seven years in office. Conservative Israelis are mostly nervous about his comments to create a Palestinian state and halt settlement expansion.
However, some of the changes that Bush is asking for are historic, such as calling Israel’s presence on Palestinian land as an “occupation” and saying “The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.
No speech by Bush would be complete without at least one linguistic slip-up or bad joke, the most memorable occurring in his meeting with Palestinian President Abbas where he noted that his motorcade didn’t have any trouble passing through the checkpoint, while Palestinians suffer daily with this hardship (Watch the video below).
The following articles and video clips offer a variety of commentaries surrounding his visit. Only time will tell what realistically could happen, and it will be interesting to be here while it all plays out.
BBC: Bush uses strong language in Mid-East: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7182363.stm
New York Times: Many Palestinians Offer a Bleak Opinion of Bush: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11jericho.html?ref=middleeast
Video: Al Jazeera analyses Bush’s checkpoint gaffe - 10 Jan 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
Video: Gaza resident reflects on Bush’s visit - 10 Jan 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
Jerusalem Post: Palestine can’t be swiss cheese - http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1199964895518&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Bush prays in Bethlehem amid sea of barricades - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i725x-kcFW0tmiDrWiqq0VuOX1iw
CNN: eporter offers Bush a Gaza, West Bank misery tour: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/09/btsc.wedeman.bush/index.html
American Jews living in Israel protest Bush’s visit on the day prior to his arrival.
Photo by Steve Dintaman
