Bush's Omission in the State of Union" Aref Assaf, Bergen
Record, 1/27/2004
Regarding the almost bewildering but perhaps deliberate omission of any mention
of the Israel-Palestine conflict in President Bush's State of the Union address:
This American disengagement plan from the Palestine-Israel issue is almost a
full cycle to the initial days of the presidency when, for close to two years,
no interest was shown in the conflict. Resolving the hostilities has often
received at least a mention by the State of the Union. It appears now that
either the Bush administration sees no benefit or hope in being entangled in
this conflict, or it is a signal of submitting to an Israeli agenda.
It is disheartening to see our president not speak on the urgent need to bring
the two sides to negotiations. We have not only the moral duty to do so but also
the economic and political weight to induce the parties into a just and lasting
agreement.
Mistakenly, our president sees no correlation between stability in the Middle
East and the war on terrorism. He has failed to see that the continued Israel
military occupation of Palestinian lands is at the core of the Arab-Israeli
conflict.
Aref Assaf
West Caldwell, Jan. 23 |
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