Times editorial on Abbas
N.Y. Times :
...We were encouraged to see President Bush use Mr. Abbas's trip to Washington this week to ratchet up pressure on both the Israelis and the Palestinians. As he has before, Mr. Bush demanded that Israel remove illegal settlements and stop settlement expansion in the West Bank. He reiterated that Israel should make sure that the security barrier it is building is not used as a political barrier in future talks over the boundaries of a Palestinian state.
The Bush administration was also right to press Mr. Abbas to require that candidates in the coming legislative elections renounce violence. One possible course for Mr. Abbas would be to call on the Palestinian legislature to reaffirm the 1996 principle, growing out of the Oslo Accords, that makes it clear that candidates, even those backed by Hamas or other militant groups, do not incite violence or keep ties with militias. Whether Mr. Abbas can deliver on this remains to be seen, but it is important that he at least try.
Clearly, this is a tough political challenge for Mr. Abbas, and it is also a tough challenge for him to crack down on the militants in Gaza and the West Bank who continue to launch attacks on Israel. The killing on Sunday of three Israeli West Bank settlers by members of Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Mr. Abbas's own ruling Fatah party, is particularly disturbing. If Mr. Abbas can't or won't rein in militants in his own party, how is he going to be able to take on Hamas?
Israel's historic disengagement from Gaza this summer must be the start, and not the end, of Israel's withdrawal from the lands that will eventually make up a Palestinian state. Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has to do more to shore up Mr. Abbas, who is clearly the only peace partner available. But Mr. Abbas himself must begin to match his words about eschewing violence with actions because that's the only way the Palestinians will ever get the state they so crave.
The Times is or isn't anti-Israel. That is besides the point.
What is clear in their reportage and editorializing (they most certainly do not separate the two!), is they are unflinchingly "Pro-Peace". What ever in the short run will seemingly attain that, they are for.
Of course, their perspective is both short sighted and naive.
From their comfy offices in Midtown Manhattan they do not feel the day to day, Year after Year impact of the deep seeded conflict.
What the Middle East needs is a bottoms up approach, ordinary Palestinians, particularly the youngsters, living a normal life while learning about Democracy.
A quick fix is counter productive.
...We were encouraged to see President Bush use Mr. Abbas's trip to Washington this week to ratchet up pressure on both the Israelis and the Palestinians. As he has before, Mr. Bush demanded that Israel remove illegal settlements and stop settlement expansion in the West Bank. He reiterated that Israel should make sure that the security barrier it is building is not used as a political barrier in future talks over the boundaries of a Palestinian state.
The Bush administration was also right to press Mr. Abbas to require that candidates in the coming legislative elections renounce violence. One possible course for Mr. Abbas would be to call on the Palestinian legislature to reaffirm the 1996 principle, growing out of the Oslo Accords, that makes it clear that candidates, even those backed by Hamas or other militant groups, do not incite violence or keep ties with militias. Whether Mr. Abbas can deliver on this remains to be seen, but it is important that he at least try.
Clearly, this is a tough political challenge for Mr. Abbas, and it is also a tough challenge for him to crack down on the militants in Gaza and the West Bank who continue to launch attacks on Israel. The killing on Sunday of three Israeli West Bank settlers by members of Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Mr. Abbas's own ruling Fatah party, is particularly disturbing. If Mr. Abbas can't or won't rein in militants in his own party, how is he going to be able to take on Hamas?
Israel's historic disengagement from Gaza this summer must be the start, and not the end, of Israel's withdrawal from the lands that will eventually make up a Palestinian state. Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has to do more to shore up Mr. Abbas, who is clearly the only peace partner available. But Mr. Abbas himself must begin to match his words about eschewing violence with actions because that's the only way the Palestinians will ever get the state they so crave.
The Times is or isn't anti-Israel. That is besides the point.
What is clear in their reportage and editorializing (they most certainly do not separate the two!), is they are unflinchingly "Pro-Peace". What ever in the short run will seemingly attain that, they are for.
Of course, their perspective is both short sighted and naive.
From their comfy offices in Midtown Manhattan they do not feel the day to day, Year after Year impact of the deep seeded conflict.
What the Middle East needs is a bottoms up approach, ordinary Palestinians, particularly the youngsters, living a normal life while learning about Democracy.
A quick fix is counter productive.
posted by Yeshiva Orthodoxy
at 8:48 PM
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