19 May 2008
Bush Reiterates Support for Palestinian State
Calls on Arab nations to support peace process
Washington -- The Palestinian people have suffered for decades and have earned the right to their own homeland, President Bush says, and the United States strongly supports the creation of a Palestinian state based on the rule of law and social justice.
"I believe that the Palestinian people will build a thriving democracy in which entrepreneurs pursue their dreams, families own homes in lively communities, and young people can grow up with hope in the future," the president said at an economic conference. The Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last year made a hopeful beginning toward a long-sought agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that can make statehood a reality, he said.
"A peace agreement is in the Palestinians' interest, it is in Israel's interest, it is in Arab states' interest, and it is in the world's interest," Bush said. "I strongly support a two-state solution."
Bush acknowledged, in a speech at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, that building a free Palestinian society is enormously demanding and that it requires action from every side. A peace agreement can be reached by the end of the year, and it will outline what the new Palestinian nation will look like: a contiguous state where Palestinians live alongside Israel and enjoy peace, prosperity and dignity, he said.
"Palestinians must fight terror and continue to build the institutions of a free and peaceful society," Bush said. "Israel must make tough sacrifices for peace and ease restrictions on Palestinians."
And Arab nations, especially the oil-rich states, must invest in the Palestinian people and leave behind old resentments against Israel, he said.
Bush's May 18 speech came at the end of his five-day mission to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which included extensive talks with leaders from key nations within the region on an array of issues from Palestinian statehood to fighting terrorism. It was his second diplomatic mission to the region this year, and another trip may become necessary before he leaves office next January, if it will advance the goals set out at the Annapolis Conference, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley says.
The World Economic Forum on the Middle East is fashioned after the annual meeting of political and business leaders held in Davos, Switzerland.
Bush emphasized that political changes in the second half of the 20th century have replaced dictatorships of the past with peaceful democracies that once seemed unimaginable -– places like Chile, Indonesia, Poland, the Philippines and South Korea. These nations have different histories and different traditions, he said, but each made the same democratic transition on its own terms.
"From diversifying your economies, to investing in your people, to extending the reach of freedom, nations across the region have an opportunity to move forward with bold and confident reforms -– and lead the Middle East to its rightful place as a center of progress and achievement," Bush said.
Making that possible requires economic reform that is also supported by political reform, he said, and free trade.
