Bush: Birth of Palestine must be irreversible

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By Ryan Jones
October 23, 2005

US President George W. Bush last week said the birth of ?Palestine? is already happening, and vowed his administration will work to ensure the removal of the Jews from their biblical homeland is permanent.

?We will work hard to lay [the] foundation so that the process [of establishing a Palestinian Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza] becomes irreversible,? Bush said during a press conference with PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas.

The president surprised observers, however, by stating he is not sure ?when it's going to happen.?

?And the reason...is because there will be moments of progress, and there will be moments of setback.?

Following his electoral victory in November 2004, Bush's timetable for ?Palestine? was somewhat shorter. ?I'd like to see it done in four years. I think it is possible,? he said at the time.

A month later he told Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily he was ?convinced that, during this term, I will manage to bring peace.?

Unhappy about the continually shifting timetable, Abbas told Agence France-Presse Friday he sees no reason why a ?Palestinian? state cannot be established as soon as one year from now.

?I think if we start to work seriously, we will only need a few years or a year,? he said.

American officials have indicated the Palestinian Authority's ongoing failure to disarm and dismantle the terrorist organizations operating out of territories under its control is the primary reason the birth of ?Palestine? has been held up.

Abbas said he believes Bush is still committed to a Palestinian Arab state at the earliest possible date, and that the president did not mean to suggest that goal is now distant.

?I had the impression that the comments of President Bush were not planned, that he had not set out to say what he did,? said the Arab. ?It was not a political position but a position expressed on the spot.?

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