27 June - 3 July 2002
Issue No. 592
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The statement in brief

Al-Ahram Weekly sums up the salient points in US President George W Bush's long-awaited statement on peace in the Middle East

In a nearly 2000-word statement on Monday, US President George W Bush laid out his vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Nearly two-thirds of the speech were devoted to what the Palestinians and Arabs must do for the peace process to get back on track, while Israel's obligations were summed up in no more than 150 words. Following are extracts:

Bush's Vision

  • "My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror."

    "New and different Palestinian leadership"

  • "Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing democracy based on

    tolerance and liberty."

  • "And when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbours, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state, whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East."

    Time frame

  • "As new Palestinian institutions and new leaders emerge, demonstrating real performance on security and reform, I expect Israel to respond and work toward a final status agreement. With intensive effort by all of us, agreement could be reached within three years from now. And I and my country will actively lead toward that goal."

    Palestinian reform

  • "A Palestinian state will never be created by terror. It will be built through reform. And reform must be more than cosmetic change or a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo. True reform will require entirely new political and economic institutions based on democracy, market economics and action against terrorism."

  • "The United States, along with the European Union and Arab states, will work with Palestinian leaders to create a new constitutional framework and a working democracy for the Palestinian people. And the United States, along with others in the international community, will help the Palestinians organise and monitor fair, multiparty local elections by the end of the year, with national elections to follow."

  • "The United States, the international donor community and the World Bank stand ready to work with Palestinians on a major project of economic reform and development."

  • "The United States and members of the international community stand ready to work with Palestinian leaders to establish, finance and monitor a truly independent judiciary."

  • "Today, Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing, terrorism. This is unacceptable. And the United States will not support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure. This will require an externally supervised effort to rebuild and reform the Palestinian security services. The security system must have clear lines of authority and accountability and a unified chain of command.

  • "If Palestinians embrace democracy, confront corruption and firmly reject terror, they can count on American support for the creation of a provisional state of Palestine."

    Final status issues

  • "The final borders, the capital and other aspects of this state's sovereignty will be negotiated between the parties as part of a final settlement.

  • "Arab states have offered their help in this process, and their help is needed."

  • "Ultimately, Israelis and Palestinians must address the core issues that divide them if there is to be a real peace, resolving all claims and ending the conflict between them. This means that the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 will be ended through a settlement negotiated between the parties, based on UN Resolutions 242 and 338, with Israeli withdrawal to secure and recognised borders."

  • "We must also resolve questions concerning Jerusalem, the plight and future of Palestinian refugees and a final peace between Israel and Lebanon, and Israel and a Syria that supports peace and fights terror."

    What Israel should do

  • "As we make progress toward security, Israeli forces need to

    withdraw fully to positions they held prior to September 28, 2000" (the beginning of Al-Aqsa uprising).

  • "And consistent with the recommendations of the Mitchell committee, Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop."

  • "The Palestinian economy must be allowed to develop. As violence subsides, freedom of movement should be restored, permitting innocent Palestinians to resume work and normal life. Palestinian legislators and officials, humanitarian and international workers must be allowed to go about the business of building a better future. And Israel should release frozen Palestinian revenues into honest, accountable hands."

    Syria, Iraq and Iran

  • "Every leader actually committed to peace will end incitement to violence in official media and publicly denounce homicide bombings."

  • "Every nation actually committed to peace will stop the flow of money, equipment and recruits to terrorist groups seeking the destruction of Israel, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah.

  • "Every nation actually committed to peace must block the shipment of Iranian supplies to these groups and oppose regimes that promote terror, like Iraq."

  • "And Syria must choose the right side in the war on terror by closing terrorist camps and expelling terrorist organizations."

    Normalisation

  • "And as we move toward a peaceful solution, Arab states will be expected to build closer ties of diplomacy and commerce with Israel, leading to full normalisation of relations between Israel and the entire Arab world."

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