So Israeli

Doaa El-Bey looks at the widespread frustration caused by the prejudice in George Bush's Knesset address

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Although nobody expected the address by US President George Bush in the Knesset marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel to be less than prejudiced to Israel, it nevertheless left extensive bitterness and negative sentiments among Palestinians and Arabs in general.

Fouad Hebeiqa wrote about the second promise -- or the second Balfour Declaration -- that Bush offered the Israelis in his address. The promise is based on a few facts enshrined in US security strategy; first that Israel is a Zionist state which has a population of 307 million rather than seven million because whenever needed, the US population of 300 million can be added to the Israeli population.

Second, Israel is an eternal entity in the region; thus all states in the region must seek complete normalisation with it. The promised Palestinian state is neither a geographic nor a political reality up till now, and Palestinian resistance groups should surrender and direct their activities towards opposing any remaining Palestinian resistance.

Bush's statements revealed other facts like; the right of return of Palestinian refugees is not on the table, Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel, and moderate Arab states should deal with Iran, not Israel, as their arch enemy.

"In the 60th year of the Nakba, and in light of the present balance of power, a settlement of the Palestinian issue is not likely, and if it ever happens it would not be fair," Hebeiqa wrote in the Lebanese political weekly Al-Kifah Al-Arabi.

Hassan Youssef pointed to the fact that Bush praised the Israeli Knesset as one of the greatest and best legislative councils worldwide, and hailed the Zionist entity as one of the miraculous achievements of people who possess efficiency and perseverance which he regarded as more important than oil and gold. Bush went as far as criticising the UN for issuing resolutions against the only democratic entity in the Middle East.

"After Bush's speech which was humiliating to everything related to the Arabs, a Knesset member described him as more Zionist than [Ehud] Olmert. Nevertheless, he was welcomed in the Arab states after that, to the extent that some of our leaders agreed to his demand to increase the production of oil although that could harm their interests," Youssef wrote in the political Syrian daily Tishreen. He regarded this as a sign that the Arab nation likes to honour its enemies.

Aisha Al-Murri wrote that Bush, who started his address by wishing Israel a happy independence day in Hebrew, appeared more Zionist than his audience. He extensively talked about Israel as one of the greatest world democracies. He talked only once about the ambition of the Palestinian people to establish their own state without him seizing the opportunity to ask Israel to make some concessions to support peace.

Although Bush said that the purpose of his visit was to boost the peace process and encourage Palestinians and Israelis to reach a peace agreement, it was obvious from his address that the only purpose of the visit was to celebrate with the Israelis.

"In participating with the Israelis in their 60th anniversary, Bush showed amazing support for Israel without leaving any room for manoeuvring with his Arab allies or partners in the Palestinian peace process. It proved what Dick Cheney said, that the Israelis had never had a better friend in the White House than Bush," Al-Murri wrote in the United Arab Emirates political daily Al-Ittihad.

Omar Helmi Al-Ghoul described Bush's address as one of complete bias to Israel -- the state of occupation and aggression. It gave Tel Aviv a free hand to turn its back on negotiations and usurp the rights of the Palestinians. Al-Ghoul noted that only once in his address did Bush refer to some of the rights of the Palestinians.

However, he used what Ghoul described as more positive language in Sharm El-Sheikh where he said a Palestinian state would put an end to the suffering of the Palestinians. He spoke about the establishment of a Palestinian state as a dream for both Palestinians and Israelis. But his language was still ambiguous especially regarding the features and borders of a Palestinian state. He did not mention that Israel dreams of a Palestinian state that is not geographically linked, is not free of Israeli settlements and does not have East Jerusalem as its capital.

He ascribed the slight change in Bush's language from utterly prejudiced to Israel to less so in Sharm El-Sheikh to the fact that the US administration has realised the frustration Arab moderates feel towards US policy, as reflected in the bitterness expressed in the addresses of the Palestinian and Egyptian presidents and the Jordanian king in Sharm El-Sheikh.

However, Ghoul believes Arab leaders can still put more pressure on the US. "The ball is still in the court of Arab leaders who can force Bush and other US decision-makers to reconsider their political stands and their ways of dealing with Arab and Palestinian interests, but will they ever do so?" he asked in the Palestinian political daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

Hazem Mubyadein wrote that even the most enthusiastic supporters of Bush's policies on the Palestinian issue did not expect his address before the Knesset to be that biased to Israel or to show complete loyalty to the Zionist state. They also never expected that his promise to establish a Palestinian state before he leaves office would change into mere talk about the dream of establishing a Palestinian state.

It is obvious the Bush's addresses before the Knesset and in Sharm El-Sheikh came as a shock to moderate Arab states that believed he would meet his promise to establish a Palestinian state next to Israel before the year is out.

"It is clear that moderate states expected a different outcome from Bush's visit like a tangible achievement in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. But he merely asked the Palestinians to accept an Israeli offer that is devoid of any mention of the future of Jerusalem or the right of return of Palestinian refugees," Mubyadein wrote in the Jordanian political daily Al-Rai. Both the Palestinians and moderate Arab states have rejected the offer even if accused of wasting a historic chance to resolve the Palestinian issue.