The latest Messiah in the Middle East is George W. Bush, who appears convinced that he can save the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Washington Post today has an interesting editorial on his mission. It begins:
On Thursday in Jerusalem, President Bush completed a full circle on the Middle East from his starting point as president. In 2001 he disparaged and quickly abandoned President Bill Clinton’s personal attempt to broker a final peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians during his final months in office. Seven years later, ending his first visit to Israel as president, Mr. Bush set a goal of finishing that peace treaty during his own final months; said he would personally involve himself in pressuring both sides; and, like Mr. Clinton before him, laid out his own parameters for a deal.
Anybody want to bet me what Obama is doing in 2016?
Umm…I wonder who it is Mr. Bush is dealing with on the Palestinian side. Seems there is a little confusion over who is in charge. What happens when Israel makes a “deal” with Abbas and Fatah leaders reject it? What does Israel do then? Apparently Israel is where Presidential legacies go to die…
This is interesting in light of the claims of that video we watched where the contention was that offering peace was only a ruse to continue the occupation while giving the appearance of wanting peace. I think you’re right about the next president. Sad how cynical all of this makes us.
Oh boo! Please not Obama for president! I pray for the Lord’s mercy on this nation and that we wouldn’t have Obama nor Clinton as our next president- although we deserve both. But, as the Lord wills…
I finally make it to Israel [the IBEX parents’ week was canceled when my son was there, due to 9/11] and George Bush decides to show up! We weren’t affected too much, however. We were in Capernaum the day before he was due there & appreciated all the recent flower plantings & American flags. But we weren’t allowed into the church to look down upon “Peter’s house” because the red carpet had already been put down and covered with plastic. [We WERE able to peek under the church to see the ruins.] The next day back in Jerusalem we had to delay the trip to the Israel Museum by a day, due to Bush’s visit there. But the Archaeology Museum was closed for renovations [argh!], though we DID get to see the recently moved model from the Holy Land Hotel – impressive!
Our lodging was primarily in Bethlehem, which was pretty calm & friendly [not counting the brawling Greek & Armenian priests who couldn’t manage to clean the Church of the Nativity without fighting!] until a rock was thrown at a small group of us as we were out walking very early in the AM…the day after Bush had been in the West Bank.
I continue to hope for an IBEX parents’ trip one of these days…if only to visit the Moshav!
Debi – glad to hear that you made it. Too bad about the timing. And as much as I like the moshav, I’m not sure it’s worth a whole nother trip. But there are certainly other reasons to return as well. The Archaeology wing of the museum is closed until 2010 (at least).