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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/18073/full/18073/bush-gives-israel-support-but-no-peace-plan/ <br /><br /> <b>Bush gives Israel support but no peace plan</b> <br /> Friday, June 28, 2002 | by <br /><br /><p>We should be relieved that President Bush's long-anticipated speech on the Mideast crisis turned out to be highly supportive of Israel.<br /><br /> Without ever pronouncing Yasser Arafat's name, Bush virtually identified him as a terrorist. He said the Palestinians could have their own state but only after their leadership changes and reforms are made.<br /><br /> Bush did not reward the Palestinians for terrorism, despite fears that he would do so. Instead, he made it clear that the United States won't support statehood until violence ends.<br /><br /> But there was much that Bush's speech didn't do. For one, he announced no steps to safeguard Israel from continued attacks.<br /><br /> Moreover, Monday's message was supposed to be the Bush administration's first groundbreaking speech for Mideast peace. But it broke no new ground.<br /><br /> Some commentators have mistakenly said that Bush was the first U.S. president to offer support for a Palestinian state. But President Clinton did the same thing when he and Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered Arafat statehood on a silver platter nearly two years ago.<br /><br /> Not only did Bush fail to break new ground, but he didn't offer up any real plan to bring peace to the Middle East. He put the onus on the Palestinians.<br /><br /> Not surprisingly, their reaction was the same as it has been since Israel began calling for Arafat's ouster some months ago. The Palestinians don't want another country telling them who their leader should be.<br /><br /> Israel's call to depose Arafat has only increased his popularity. Undoubtedly Bush's call will do the same.<br /><br /> We had hoped that Bush would have had a more conclusive plan in mind that would have promised a quicker end to the bloodshed in the Mideast.<br /><br /> While we are thankful for his overwhelming support of Israel, we only wish that he could have produced a formula that offered more hope for peace.</p> <p> </p>

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