U.S. President George W. Bush?s wailing against the planned security wall dividing Israel proper and the West Bank requires a degree of perspective that can best be supplied by an American who has long followed Bush?s movements. From a distance, that is. Whether voluntary or not, quite a far distance.
This is a president who, long before he became president, surrounded himself with Texas state police as he clogged traffic halfway through New Hampshire during the February 2000 Republican primary. His chief rival, Sen. John McCain, stood within touching distance of many New Hampshirites during more than 100 town meetings.
This is a president who has had air security space sharply expanded wherever he flies. This is a president who visited Africa?s Goree Island just weeks ago after the residents were carted off to the other side of the island so he could avoid them; by contrast, President Clinton mingled with Goree?s residents when he visited there during his presidency.
This a president who is now lecturing Israelis that they do not need a security wall, which many Israelis agree to, so they can stay alive.
One of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas?s demands when he visited Bush on Friday was to tear down the wall going up between Israel and the West Bank. To this Bush, known here as W., told reporters: ?I think the wall is a problem. It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank.?
No kidding. The wall was initiated because Israelis could not ?develop confidence? that Palestinian terrorists would not cross the border and continue murdering Israelis. If the simplicity of Bush?s statement confounds those of you in Israel and other countries, try to imagine what us Americans have endured for the last 2-and-a-half years on a wide range of issues. Israelis got a taste of Bush?s flip-flopping when he moved from his staunch support of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s hardline policies to backing the ?road map?. In my view, Bush moved from one extreme to another because Sharon made serious mistakes before, and I am very leery of aspects of the ?road map?.
Back to the wall: Israel initiated construction of the wall amid suicide bombings in Israeli cities such as Netanya, the site of the 2002 Passover Seder bombing. Palestinian killers crossed into Israel from the West Bank numerous times. Sharon and others in Likud grudgingly went along with the wall. In fact, some in the Likud feared that such a wall would establish the foundation for permanent boundaries that would prevent them from ultimately claiming all the land.
I recall reading that most Israelis, no matter what their politics, concurred on this: A security wall makes sense because it would likely prevent future suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks. The Jerusalem Report magazine related that municipal officials were in the process of building the wall themselves in stages and sought financial help from American Jews. While Abbas cries to Bush that the wall must be dismantled, in the next breath he complains that he lacks the force to crack down on the terrorist groups. If the Israelis grant his wish, what will Abbas do if Hamas and other terrorists end the truce and send more suicide bombers into Tel Aviv and Netanya?
Your choice for protection: Abbas or the security wall. Who would you trust?
Don?t ask Bush unless he moves to Israel. He already has his own... ?security wall?, so to speak.
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Bruce Ticker is a freelance writer and former journalist living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at brucetic@aol.com.
This is a president who, long before he became president, surrounded himself with Texas state police as he clogged traffic halfway through New Hampshire during the February 2000 Republican primary. His chief rival, Sen. John McCain, stood within touching distance of many New Hampshirites during more than 100 town meetings.
This is a president who has had air security space sharply expanded wherever he flies. This is a president who visited Africa?s Goree Island just weeks ago after the residents were carted off to the other side of the island so he could avoid them; by contrast, President Clinton mingled with Goree?s residents when he visited there during his presidency.
This a president who is now lecturing Israelis that they do not need a security wall, which many Israelis agree to, so they can stay alive.
One of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas?s demands when he visited Bush on Friday was to tear down the wall going up between Israel and the West Bank. To this Bush, known here as W., told reporters: ?I think the wall is a problem. It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank.?
No kidding. The wall was initiated because Israelis could not ?develop confidence? that Palestinian terrorists would not cross the border and continue murdering Israelis. If the simplicity of Bush?s statement confounds those of you in Israel and other countries, try to imagine what us Americans have endured for the last 2-and-a-half years on a wide range of issues. Israelis got a taste of Bush?s flip-flopping when he moved from his staunch support of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s hardline policies to backing the ?road map?. In my view, Bush moved from one extreme to another because Sharon made serious mistakes before, and I am very leery of aspects of the ?road map?.
Back to the wall: Israel initiated construction of the wall amid suicide bombings in Israeli cities such as Netanya, the site of the 2002 Passover Seder bombing. Palestinian killers crossed into Israel from the West Bank numerous times. Sharon and others in Likud grudgingly went along with the wall. In fact, some in the Likud feared that such a wall would establish the foundation for permanent boundaries that would prevent them from ultimately claiming all the land.
I recall reading that most Israelis, no matter what their politics, concurred on this: A security wall makes sense because it would likely prevent future suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks. The Jerusalem Report magazine related that municipal officials were in the process of building the wall themselves in stages and sought financial help from American Jews. While Abbas cries to Bush that the wall must be dismantled, in the next breath he complains that he lacks the force to crack down on the terrorist groups. If the Israelis grant his wish, what will Abbas do if Hamas and other terrorists end the truce and send more suicide bombers into Tel Aviv and Netanya?
Your choice for protection: Abbas or the security wall. Who would you trust?
Don?t ask Bush unless he moves to Israel. He already has his own... ?security wall?, so to speak.
--------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Ticker is a freelance writer and former journalist living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at brucetic@aol.com.