Thursday, September 15, 2005
George Bush has reportedly told Ariel Sharon that there will be no more diplomatic steps until Gaza is quiet. This is good news that indicates the Palestinian Authority's ability to prove it's a real government is being tested. I believe they will fail at this, as to date the idea that the PA is a real government is nothing more than a gentlemen's agreement amongst governments and pseudo-governments like the UN to share a delusion together.
Assuming Bush sticks to this, and the PA fails to show it has any worth at all, what then? I don't know. Maybe a further rationalizing of borders and a fait accompli on the West Bank, as what could have been a re-routed fence becomes permanent -- Israelis on one side of the fence on what will be their land forever and Palestinian Arabs on the other side left to accomplish whatever it is they can accomplish as history moves on without them.
JPost: Bush: No more steps till Gaza is quiet
Earlier in the day US President George W. Bush told Sharon there will be no further steps in the diplomatic process if Gaza is not quiet.
According to Israeli officials who participated in the 45-minute meeting, Bush told Sharon that from the US perspective Gaza is a test ground, and for there to be any further progress the Palestinians must ensure quiet, security and proper governance.
Bush also told Sharon the US would press the Egyptians to take control of the Egyptian-Gaza border, which has been open since the IDF's withdrawal from Gaza on Monday. Bush said he would impress upon the Egyptians and the Palestinian Authority the need to take effective control of the border.
During the meeting, Sharon described the anarchic situation reigning in Gaza in general, and along the Gaza-Egyptian border in particular...
Also note this little bit of hand-shaking:
Israeli officials said that was the extent of the "chance" meeting that had been anticipated since Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met his Pakistani counterpoint, Khursheed Kasuri, some three weeks ago in Turkey...
Oh, and don't miss this Washington Post editorial that actually blames the Palestinian Arabs and the Egyptians, not the Israelis, for the chaos in Gaza. As Meryl says, "Read it all. Print it out, frame it, and refer back to it from time to time. Hell, even the slap at Israel’s conservatives is a mild one."
Washington Post: Bad Start in Gaza:
