30 April 2003
Bush Says He Will Help Israelis, Palestinians Work Toward Peace
(Release of "roadmap" presents opportunity to move forward) (910)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- Following the formal release to the Israelis and the
Palestinians April 30 of the international "roadmap for peace" in the
Middle East, President Bush urged both sides to end their violence and
work with the United States, the international community "and directly
with each other to immediately end the violence and return to a path
of peace."
The roadmap, "is a framework for progress toward lasting peace and
security in the Middle East, " the president said in a statement.
Put together over a period of months by the United States working with
Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, it "represents a
starting point toward achieving the vision of two states -- a secure
state of Israel and a viable, peaceful democratic Palestine -- that I
set out on June 24th, 2002," in the White House Rose Garden, Bush
said.
"An opportunity now exists to move forward. The United States will do
all it can to seize this opportunity," the president said.
In remarks to reporters later April 30, as he sat down with Colombia's
President Alvaro Uribe in the Oval Office, Bush was asked about the
prospects for the roadmap.
"I am an optimist," he said. "I believe now that we have an
interlocutor from the Palestinian Authority that has spoken clearly
about the need to fight terror, that we have a good opportunity to
advance the peace process, and I will seize the opportunity."
"In order for peace to occur, all parties must assume their
responsibilities," Bush said. "That includes Arab nations which
surround Israel and the potential Palestinian state. They must cut off
funding to terrorists. They must create the conditions necessary for
peace. Israel is going to have to make some sacrifices in order to
move the peace process forward. But no sacrifice should be made that
would allow and encourage terror to continue," he said.
To help move the process along, Bush announced he has asked Secretary
of State Colin Powell to travel soon to the region. The dates for that
trip have not yet been announced.
Bush and Powell "will devote considerable time and energy to helping
the parties to achieve peace," White House Press Secretary Ari
Fleischer told reporters at his noon briefing.
"The secretary is working the phones. This is important. And this
administration, this president are dedicated to helping the parties
find a new way," Fleischer said.
Bush, he said , is hopeful that "a new, more optimistic, more hopeful
environment can take hold."
"[H]opefully today will mark the beginning of a new way of doing
business between the Israelis and the Palestinians, with the release
of the roadmap, which focuses them on peaceful settlement of disputes,
not violent settlement of disputes," Fleischer said.
"[T]he difficult process begins again in terms of finding a way for
the parties -- who have differing approaches -- to come together,"
Fleischer said. "If the current comments" from the Israelis and the
Palestinians about the document hold, he said, then "work will begin
of trying to help" them bridge their differences about it.
"Make no mistake: It will be hard work," the press secretary said.
"There will be a lot of hand-holding required. The president is
prepared to invest the time and the energy into it. Still, it does
fundamentally come down to the two parties."
"What's important," he said, "is that they both share the outcome of
the document, which is the path to peace and the path to statehood for
Palestinians and security for Israel."
There are certain time periods in the framework of the roadmap,
Fleischer said, the key one being the creation of an independent
Palestinian state in 2005 that lives in peace and security with its
neighbor, Israel.
"And all events leading up to that help to support that goal. What's
going to happen now is we'll see how actively and how quickly the
parties can work together to make all of this happen. We'll see what
the exact timetable is."
The roadmap was not released earlier, Fleischer said, because Yasser
Arafat was still in charge of the Palestinian Authority. "The
administration was unequivocal. President Bush said repeatedly that
the roadmap would be released upon the confirmation of Abu Mazen's
cabinet and as reforms in the Palestinian Authority move forward. That
just took place this very week. So the administration has been timely
in its release of the roadmap."
Asked whether the fact that Saddam Hussein has been removed from power
in Iraq also had some influence on the release of the roadmap,
Fleischer said Saddam Hussein's ouster "does remove one source of
instability that paid for suicide/homicide bombers to cross into
Israel and take innocent lives."
Asked about the impact of the previous day's suicide bombing in Israel
on prospects for peace, Fleischer said "This is the very challenge
that the parties face. Hamas' violence and homicide attacks and the
other terrorist groups that operate in the region are the greatest
challenge to peace there is, and this is why it's so imperative for
the Palestinian people to join together and say that if they want to
be a state, if they want a bright and peaceful future, security has
got to be brought under control and these groups have got to be
brought under control."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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