Hi John & All:
Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, made some rather troubling remarks in her speech to the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities in the city of Nashville, just a few days ago. I won't retype her entire diatribe, which is rather lengthy, but just give some important highlights --
An issue of conscience, that does stir us all,
is the search for peace in the Middle East ....
I believe that most palestinians and most
Arab States, are ready to end the conflict.
I believe that most Israelis are ready to
leave most of [here she stumbles] nearly
all of the West Bank, just as they were
ready to leave Gaza, for the sake of peace.
If our Arab friends of [she stumbles again] long
standing, truly desire peace, then they need
to demonstrate to their people, and to the
world, that they believe that Israel has a
permanent home in the Middle East. The time
has come to seize that opportunity, and that
is why we intend to hold a serious and
substantive meeting in Annapolis.
Our current course is not to replace the roadmap,
nor to supplant direct negotiations between
the parties, but to take this opportunity and to
pursue peace and to protect ourselves
against
those with far darker designs. We can suceed,
and we must suceed. Failure is simply not
an option ....
Ariel Sharon once told me a story. It was just
before the engage [she stumbles] disengagement
from Gaza. He told me that he went out to talk
with Israeli settlers, because he, of course, had
been the father of the settlement movement. He
went to one family, and he explained to them why
it was important to share the land. And this one
man, the head of the family, said: "Let me show
you something." And he showed Sharon the
mezuzah above his house, and he said: "You
personally, Prime Minister, put that above our
house. You personally told us this was good
for
Israel, to settle here. And now you tell us
that we have to leave, for the good of Israel."
Sharon was deeply pained by that. I could see
it in the way he told me the story. But that's
what great leaders do. They make hard decisions
confidently, for the sake of peace.
Israelis have waited too long for the security that
will come living side-by-side with a peaceful and
democratic neighbor. Palestinians have waited
too long, for the dignity that will come with an
independant State. We've all waited an awfully
long time for peace. We should wait no longer.
So let us move confidently forward, to the future.
Let us realize our shared goal of two democratic
states living side-by-side in peace and security,
and let us safeguard
for all time, what David Ben
Gurion called "the legacy of a small nation, which
has endured great suffering, and tribulations, but
which has nevertheless great, and eternal in spirit,
vision, faith, and virture." ... Thank you very much.
- End of speech -
See ya in the air,
Eric