Confirmed: Me & Palestinians Have One More Thing in Common

Pls read AFP report below. Now, we can confirm I do have one more thing in common with the Palestinians.

And sometime in the future, some of us will find among the people that talk to us on this topic, idiots (especially those from certain religions) with no idea of what happened years before wondering aloud why the idiotic Palestinians do not accept whatever the nice Israelis had to offer. Not knowing, of course, that those Palestinians had already been short changed by deals cut years before by some superpower.

As history is only repeating itself, there are already such idiots existing today. If you, like me, know of such people you can help them with some history to present day Palestine: tell them to find out about the history & players surrounding the Balfour Declaration, and the Sykes-Picot and Hussein-MacMahon Agreements done about a hundred years ago by Bush-like idiots from Britain (it is not a coincidence if they have the same religion).

WASHINGTON (AFP) President George W. Bush broke with a decades-old US policy by stating Israel could keepsome Arab land captured in the 1967 war, infuriating Palestinian leaders who condemned the US leader.

Bush signalled the change as he endorsed a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and some West Bank settlements. He caused further controversy by saying Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to land lost to Israel in 1948.

Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei described Bush's move as unacceptable and in breach of the US-led Middle East peace process.

Bush backed the plan to withdraw from 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank after a White House meeting with the Israeli leader. He hailed Sharon's proposal as "historic and courageous".

A senior Israeli official said the withdrawal would be completed in 2005.

"If all parties choose to embrace this moment they can open the door to progress and put an end to one of the world's longest-running conflicts," said Bush. The president reiterated his support for the "road map" peace blueprint, which calls for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

But Bush declared that Palestinian refugees from the 1948 upheaval in the region must settle in any new Palestinian state. "In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949," he said, referring to large settlements in the West Bank.

The two leaders exchanged letters on Bush's endorsement of the disengagement plan during their meeting, officials said.

In what appeared to be approval of a key Israeli demand, Bush said in a statement that Israel will "retain its right" after any pull-out to strike Palestinian militants in Gaza. The US leader again warned Palestinians that "they must fight terror." "It is very important for a Palestinian state to emerge in which we have confidence, in which any prime minister of Israel has confidence, in which the United States has confidence, that will be a peaceful partner," he said.

But Bush also said the security barrier Israeli is building in the West Bank must not become a permanent construction. "It should be temporary rather than permanent, and therefore not prejudice any final status issues, including final borders."

At a joint press conference with Bush, Sharon was visibly pleased with the results from his ninth visit to the White House since the president took office in January 2001. "I was encouraged by your positive response and your support for my plan," Sharon said.

Washington's endorsement was likely to give Sharon the backing he needs to win a vote in early May on the disengagement plan by his Likud Party. The withdrawal proposal has drawn fierce opposition from right-wingers.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Gaza withdrawal would be completed by an unspecified date in 2005. And Sharon said in his letter to Bush that Israel plans to speed up work on the security barrier in the West Bank, that has faced widespread international criticism, but promised it would be "temporary rather than permanent" in line with Bush's demands. The senior official hailed Bush's comments on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and negating the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel as an historic first. "The United States made unequivocal statements not heard in 56 years," the official told reporters after the White House talks.

The Palestinian premier angrily accused Bush of an "unacceptable" violation of the peace process. "It cannot be decided by the president of the United States what is realistic and what is not realistic," Qorei told reporters at his West Bank offices. "This is a real violation of the road map." Qorei said the borders and the status of refugees must "be decided in negotiations" involving all sides as laid down in the US-backed road map peace plan, which was launched last June.

He also criticised Bush for not demanding that the Israel tear down the separation barrier. "It is not realistic that the Israelis occupy Palestinian territories; it is not realistic that the Israelis build the separation wall on the Palestinian territories." Qorei said he had been let down by the Americans after being told by a group of visiting envoys this month that "the permanent status issues would be negotiated in a permanent status agreement. "Today we are really disappointed," he added.

The Palestinian leadership warned in a statement before the Bush-Sharon meeting that any US endorsement of the disengagement plan would trigger a new cycle of violence. Any deal "would lead to the destruction of any possibility of peace, of stability and security in the region and will launch a new cycle of violence," said the statement.

Sharon has argued that he has no option but to implement his disengagement plan in the absence of a Palestinian negotiating partner, accusing Qorei and his government of not moving to crack down on militants groups who have carried out a string of suicide attacks.

The two prime ministers have not met since Qorei came to office in October and the Palestinian premier ruled out the prospect of talks with Sharon after his visit to Washington. "I do not know what we would have to talk about," he said.