Region | Palestinian Territories

Bush's forecast for Mideast ... in 2068

Bush made no acknowledgment of the hardship Palestinians suffered when the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 displaced hundreds of thousands, a fact that serves as a counterpoint to Israel's two weeks of jubilant celebrations.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:38 May 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

Occupied Jerusalem: US President George W. Bush feted Israel on Thursday in honour of the 60th anniversary of its founding and predicted its 120th birthday would find it alongside a Palestinian state and in an all-democratic neighbourhood free from today's oppression and extremist movements.

Delivering this rosy forecast for the Middle East in 2068 during a speech to the the Israeli parliament, Bush limited his mention of Palestinians to just one sentence: "The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved, a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror."

Bush made no acknowledgment of the hardship Palestinians suffered when the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 displaced hundreds of thousands, a fact that serves as a counterpoint to Israel's two weeks of jubilant celebrations. The president also offered no detail on how the broader Mideast would move from today's realities to his vision.

Period of mourning

"From Cairo and Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy, tourism and trade," Bush said.

While Israel marked its 60th anniversary, Palestinians engaged in a period of mourning. In the West Bank, the anniversary of the catastrophic birth of Israel, Al Nakba, was being commemorated with rallies, sirens and the launch of thousands of black balloons.

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