Opinion: Who Dares Stop America?

In a January 6 comment piece for Champress about President George Bush’s visit to Israel and Arab states, Information Minister Bilal al-Hassan noted that the US leader was trying to shift the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which had been blocked by the issue of Israeli settlements. The undeclared motive behind the visit, said al-Hassan, is to give the impression that Washington still has an active and successful policy, rather than the failure that everyone agrees it really is.



Israel is providing intensive security around Bush, who will not be visiting Yasser Arafat’s grave as he regards the late Palestinian leader as having been a terrorist. Bush wants to relay a message to the Palestinians that he is visiting them because they elected a democratic leadership to replace the “terrorist” Arafat. However, it is unclear how he will react when he sees portraits of Arafat in the office of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and on the streets. We hope that he will not ask for the picture to be removed, and that Abbas will deny the request if it is made.



Bush will ask the Israelis to stop expanding their settlements, and this coincides with Palestinian demands. However, his request will be useless unless existing settlements are on the table as well – and the Israelis regard them as not up for discussion.