Abbas- Bush summit: Palestinians Close to independent state
After an "eventful year" in which Israel withdrew from Gaza and presidential and municipal elections were held in the Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian people are closer to achieving an independent state, President Bush said October 20.
Speaking at the White House with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bush praised Abbas as "a man devoted to peace and to his people's aspirations for a state of their own," and said, "today the Palestinian people are closer to realizing those aspirations."
Bush said there now are partners in peace on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides, and that Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "are showing strong leadership toward achieving that objective."
"This is a time of great possibility in the Middle East, and the people of the region are counting on their leaders to seize the opportunities for peace and progress. This work isn't going to be easy, but the path forward is clear," Bush said.
The president said the United States expects both Israel and the Palestinians to adhere to the Roadmap agreement for peace. He called on Abbas to confront "armed gangs" that pose a threat to peace and to "a genuinely democratic Palestine."
Bush, calling on Sharon's government to remove unauthorized settlement outposts and to stop settlement expansion, said Israel must work to improve the daily lives of Palestinians and "should not undertake any activity that contravenes its Roadmap obligations or prejudices the final status negotiations,"
The barrier Israel is erecting in the West Bank must be a security enhancement, not a political barrier, the president said. Israel also must "take into account the impact the security barrier has on Palestinians not engaged in terrorist activities," he said.
"[W]e are holding people to account on the pledges that both the Palestinians and the Israelis have made on the Roadmap. And we do so publicly, and we do so privately," Bush said.
The president rejected the notion of a US timetable for peace, saying "the United States will not try to conform and force parties to make decisions based upon the political schedule in America."
"I'd like to see two states. And if it happens before I get out of office, I'll be there to witness the ceremony.... [I]f it doesn't, we will work hard to lay that foundation so that the process becomes irreversible," he said.
Bush also called for the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy through measures such as opening the Rafah border crossing, connecting the West Bank and Gaza, easing travel restrictions in the West Bank and beginning work on the Gaza seaport.
"These are all practical steps that will help the Palestinian economy grow and flourish," Bush said. The international community, especially Arab states, "have a particular responsibility to help the Palestinians build a strong and prosperous economy," the president said.
The president thanked General William Ward, who is completing his services as senior US security coordinator for the Palestinians, and said he would be naming a new coordinator within days to "take on an enhanced mission" to help the Palestinian Authority "end terror attacks, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, maintain law and order and one day provide security for their own state. "
Abbas reaffirmed the Palestinians' "commitment to peace and negotiated settlement," and called for a Palestinian-Israeli partnership to create "a better future for the entire region" by ending decades of wars and occupation.
He said the US position on the conflict "contributes fundamentally to advance the chances of reviving and resuming the peace process in the region."
Abbas also said that approximately 100 days remain before Palestinians vote for their representatives on the Palestinian Legislative Council for the first time in 10 years, marking a "very important landmark" he said.
He said that the Palestinian Authority, to discourage terrorism, asked all groups to accept a "hudna," or calming, and then obtained an agreement from all groups to end armed demonstrations.
"Now all groups are under way to the electoral process, so all groups will become a part of the political Palestinian fabric. I believe this will create a new phase in the life of Palestinian people, a phase of democracy and pluralism... in order to be a solid base for peace in the region," Abbas said.
He said his administration is undertaking other reforms, including security and advancing the rule of law, and has started launching a series of economic projects in the occupied territories. Abbas thanked the United States, Arab countries and others in the international community for their assistance and said "we hope that all these projects will be activated by the donor countries in order to increase the number of projects" that help the Palestinian people.
Thanking the president, Abbas said, "we are leaving Washington more sure and more confident of the possibility of reviving and resuming the peace process, and more determined to forge ahead along with the path of peace, democracy and freedom."
Following are the remarks by President Bush and President Abbas:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all, thanks. It's my honor to welcome the democratically elected leader of the Palestinian Authority to the White House for the second time this year. We just had some good talks. Mr. President, thanks. A good, open, exchange of ideas.
President Abbas is a man devoted to peace and to his people's aspirations for a state of their own. And today the Palestinian people are closer to realizing those aspirations. It's a really interesting period of history, I think. I was just commenting to the President when we were in the Oval Office how much things have changed in the Holy Land. After all, he got elected in January; there were successful Palestinian municipal elections, and then we witnessed the completion of Israel's disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. It's been an eventful year.
And I say it's an eventful year because the ultimate objective is there -- for there to be two states, living side-by-side in peace; two democracies living side-by-side in peace. And I believe that's where we're headed. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of West Bank was a bold decision, with historic significance. President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority contributed to the success of the withdrawal in significant ways. Mr. President, thank you.
Through the active coordination and ground-level cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces, the disengagement has been completed successfully and calmly. Israeli withdrawal creates new opportunities, creates responsibilities for the Palestinian people.
The way forward must begin by confronting the threat that armed gangs pose to a genuinely democratic Palestine. And those armed gangs must confront the threat that armed gangs pose to lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Now, Mr. President, you ran on a platform of peace. That's why the people voted for you. I strongly support your rejection of terror and your commitment to what you have called one authority, one law, and one gun. The United States, in cooperation with the international community, has helped you achieve this through the efforts of our senior US security coordinator, General Kip Ward. I appreciate your service, General Ward. Thank you for being here, and thank you for all your hard work to help the Palestinian security forces at a critical time. Job well done.
In the coming days, I'll be naming our new coordinator to build on the progress General Ward has made. This person will take on an enhanced mission to help President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority carry out their responsibility to end terror attacks, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, maintain law and order, and, one day, provide security for their own state.
The way forward must include rebuilding the Palestinian economy. This goal has the support of the Quartet: the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia. Quartet Special Envoy Jim Wolfensohn is coordinating a broad effort to generate economic and financial support from the international community for the Palestinian Authority, and he's doing a good job. I'm going to continue to consult with our Quartet partners to ask Jim to extend his mission until next spring.
It's important that we make quick progress on the issues that Jim has identified as most critical for the Palestinian economy, including opening the Rafah crossing, connecting the West Bank in Gaza, improving the ability of Palestinians to travel in the West Bank, and beginning work on the Gaza seaport. These are all practical steps that will help the Palestinian economy grow and flourish. I believe that Arab states have a particular responsibility to help the Palestinians build a strong and prosperous economy, and I urge them to create an environment in the region that strengthens the possibility of peace.
The way forward must continue to include democratic elections. The upcoming elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council offer an opportunity to open the door to the next generation of Palestinian leaders. They'll be responsible for building a peaceful and hopeful future for their country.
In the short-term, the Palestinian Authority must earn the confidence of its peoples, by holding elections and having a functioning government that delivers economic opportunity. The Palestinian Authority must also earn the confidence of its neighbors by rejecting and fighting terrorism.
As I have stated in the past, achieving peace demands action from all parties. Israel must continue to work with Palestinian leaders to help improve the daily lives of Palestinians. At the same time, Israel should not undertake any activity that contravenes its Roadmap obligations, or prejudices the final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. This means that Israel must remove unauthorized posts and stop settlement expansion. It also means that the barrier now being built to protect Israelis from terrorist attacks must be a security barrier, rather than a political barrier. Israeli leaders must take into account the impact this security barrier has on Palestinians not engaged in terrorist activities.
This is a time of great possibility in the Middle East. And the people of the region are counting on their leaders to seize the opportunities for peace and progress. This work isn't going to be easy, but the path forward is clear. I want to thank President Abbas for his hard work. I appreciate your service, Mr. President. I assured him that the United States will use our influence to help realize a shared vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.
Welcome.
PRESIDENT ABBAS:(as translated) Thank you. Mr. President, I would like to thank you for your warm welcome, and I would like to express my satisfaction with the talks that I conducted with you and your senior aides.
You have emphasized, Mr. President, from this place, about five months ago, the basic counters for the US position regarding the various aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This position, which you have reiterated today, contributes fundamentally to advance the chances of reviving and resuming the peace process in the region.
In the last few months, the dismantling of settlements and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip was concluded. The Palestinian Authority have worked very hard with all its energy, in order to make sure that this will happen without any incident, in order to have this as a window of an opportunity that will help us to move faster toward achieving additional steps on the way toward realizing just peace, based on your vision and on international resolutions.
This window, Mr. President, must remain open. And this opportunity must be strengthened through resolving all the outstanding issues -- as you have mentioned, the Gaza crossing point and the establishment of a permanent link between Gaza and the West Bank. At the same time, we must immediately start implementing what the Roadmap and the Sharm el-Sheikh agreements regarding the cessation of settlement activities and construction of the wall in the West Bank, particularly in Jerusalem, in addition to withdrawal of the Israeli forces to positions prior to September 28, 2000.
With the removal of the roadblocks, which, unfortunately, turned the lives of Palestinians into hardship, suffering, humiliation, and also a very important sensitive issue, which is the release of prisoners of freedom from Israeli jails. The implementation of these requirements, Mr. President, represents urging the talks on permanent status issues regarding Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders, in order to reach, at the end, peace, which would allow for the establishment of an independent, democratic Palestinian state, on all the territories occupied in 1967. That state that would live in a good, neighborly relationship in peace with the state of Israel.
Mr. President, there is approximately 100 days between us and the elections for our legislative council, where the Palestinian people would go to the ballot box to elect for the first time since their -- for the first time in 10 years their representatives. This, for us, represents a very important landmark. On one hand, it comes a whole year since I assumed office, and also these elections would represent a renewal process, rebuilding process of our political process.
Also, these elections would consolidate and reinforce the slogan I ran on during my presidential election, which emphasized clearly the one authority, the one law, the one legal, legitimate law and political pluralism. The new legislative council would be mandated by the people to legislate and issue these slogans and make them a reality.
Once again, we repeat our pride of our democratic experience that has been undertaken by the Palestinian people, and we repeat and we say that democracy can lose a lot of its momentum in the absence of freedom and with the continuation of occupation.
Mr. President, our discussions today have allowed us to inform you of what the Palestinian National Authority is doing and what we are doing in terms of various policies in various spheres. We have worked and we will continue to work to continue to ensure the calm and maintain it. We are also intensifying our work in the field of security. We have taken active steps in imposing the rule of law and public order and banned armed demonstrations.
Our measures are continuing to reinforce the judiciary branch, as well as the administrative reform. We have said and we did during the last week start launching a series of economic projects in the infrastructure and in health and education and agriculture in both Gaza and the West Bank.
And here I would like to salute the United States for its contribution, and also the help that came from a variety of Arab countries and countries around the world. And we hope that all these projects will be activated by the donors' countries in order to increase the number of projects that our people are in need of.
Our discussion of the overall situation in the region has afforded us the opportunity to point out what we reaffirmed repeatedly through the past few weeks on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization: We are determined not to interfere in domestic Lebanese affairs. We reiterate that the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are subject to the authority and the laws of Lebanon as temporary guests awaiting the resolution of the refugee problem in the accordance with the international resolutions.
Mr. President, we reaffirm again here today our commitment to peace and negotiated settlement. We expect that our people's quest in this direction will be supported. The time has come to put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The time has come that the Palestinian people will attain their freedom and independence. The time has come to move quickly towards the resumption of permanent status negotiations.
Peace requires a departure from the policies of occupation and the adoption of the principle of freedom. Peace requires departure from the policies of settlements construction, the collective punishment, unilateral acts that undermine your vision toward two states and replace that with progress towards negotiations. Peace and security cannot be guaranteed by the construction of walls, by the erection of checkpoints, and the confiscation of land, but rather by the recognition of rights.
Peace cannot be attained by the enforcement of discriminatory road policies and by the policies of imposition and creation of facts on the ground, but rather through belief in the principles of partnership, parity and mutual respect.
We are presenting, based on wide public support, our positions that call upon the Israeli side to join us in a real partnership for making peace. We are calling for a Palestinian-Israeli partnership for the sake of creating a better future, and for the entire region that can end decades from wars, occupation, and open the doors wide open. We were promised peace, independence and freedom, and we hope that all of this will be achieved.
Mr. President, once again, I thank you, and reaffirm to you, as we did in our last visit, we are leaving Washington more sure and more confident of the possibility of reviving and resuming the peace process, and more determined to forge ahead along with the path of peace, democracy and freedom. Thank you, Mr. President.
(The two presidents answered press questions, here are some question and answers):
Question: The Roadmap that your administration backs calls for the creation of a Palestinian state in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. Yet, the Israelis' settlement activities, despite your repeated calls, included today, still continue in the West Bank. What is your administration planning to do to get Israel to put an end to those activities?
And then, President Abbas -- (as translated) -- what are the practical steps that they want Bush -- President Bush to take in order to establish the Palestinian state before the end of his term?
PRESIDENT BUSH: As I said in my -- in my comments, that we expect all parties to adhere to the Roadmap. And we are holding people to account on the pledges that most of the Palestinians and the Israelis have made on the Roadmap. And we do so publicly and we do so privately.
It's -- a lot of these issues that have been very difficult for a long period of time become easier to resolve as there's more trust between the parties. And trust becomes a permanent part of the political process as action on the ground takes place. The Gaza withdrawal is a magnificent opportunity to help develop trust. It's an opportunity to develop trust between the Palestinians and the Israelis. And after all, the world watched strong cooperation between two willing governments to help good disengagement of Gaza, which is a -- right now, I guess, we take it all for granted.
You look back -- I think prior to the disengagement, there was a lot of consternation, a lot of concern. I suspect some of you might have even reported that, you know, better watch out, this disengagement could end up being a very difficult period. And yet thanks to the President's leadership and Prime Minister Sharon's leadership, the disengagement worked, which established trust.
Mr. President has got an -- a job, and that's to establish trust with the Palestinian people. He is a man who said, "I'm running on a peace platform," and therefore, he has talked to us about using security forces to make sure that armed gangs don't disrupt the democratic process. And our job is to help him do that. And so to answer your question, yes, we hold people to account for their promises made on the Roadmap. And many of those promises will be easier to keep for all parties as there's progress on the ground. And we have seen remarkable progress during the past year.
And there's -- and the progress isn't over this year. There will be elections. This is a very hopeful period. I'm very upbeat about being able to achieve this vision. I understand it's hard. Things don't happen overnight. Old feuds aren't settled immediately. And it takes a while.
The key thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that there are partners in peace. Prime Minister Sharon wants there to be peace. President Abbas wants there to be peace. And both men are showing strong leadership toward achieving that objective. And that's why I'm confident. I'm a heck of a lot more confident today than when -- I was when I first came into office. I know it's nearly five years ago, and that's an eternity for some, but there has been remarkable progress in this part of the world. And we'll continue to work with the parties to achieve this important objective: two democratic states living side-by-side in peace.
PRESIDENT ABBAS: Thank you. The truth is, our answer to that question, we have to change the question: What are we supposed to do -- as Palestinians and Israelis -- to do.
First of all, we have to work. We have to do our part. We have to think as partners. So many years passed by, more than four years we did not have any dialogue. We did not have any talks. And now we have confidence. We need to rebuild and build on that confidence and on the relationship.
And on our side, we are extending our hand to be true partners in the peace process, and we hope that the Israeli side also will do the same, so we can do our parts. And what we ask President Bush to do is what he mentioned during his remarks, the Roadmap and the achievement and the realization of his vision. The Roadmap talks about settlements, about the barrier; all these issues that will facilitate the road to achieving true peace, and will facilitate building the confidence between the two peoples, the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Question: President Abbas. As President Bush referred and said, that the only way to achieve progress and the peace road is combating armed gangs. And you are facing difficulties in doing this. Are you going to seek help and support from American President George Bush, to help you in disarming the resistance movements?
And, President, you say you wanted to see the Palestinian state made before the end of your presidency. Are you still hoping to see something like that? This is number one. Number two, don't you think the time has come to talk about timetables to get the two parties to the issues of final status negotiations?
PRESIDENT ABBAS: Regarding your questions, I am saying that we are truly in need of help from the United States in a variety of issues -- economic issues, and financial issues, and also security support. And the reason is having General Ward among us, a man who has done a magnificent job, and we appreciate him and appreciate his work very much.
Regarding our internal issues, we are following a policy. I believe it is a successful policy. When we started and we asked everyone to accept the hudna, or the calming, all the organizations that are recognized accepted that. Then we moved into another phase, and that is the phase of banning all public demonstrations with fire arms. All groups accepted that.
Now, all groups are underway to the electoral process, so all groups will become a part of the political Palestinian fabric. I believe this will create a new phase in the life of Palestinian people. It's a phase of democracy and pluralism in full fledge in order to be a solid base for peace in the region.
PRESIDENT BUSH: I believe that two democratic states living side-by-side in peace is possible. I can't tell you when it's going to happen. It's happening. And the reason I can't is because there will be moments of progress, and there will be moments of setback. The key is to keep moving forward, is to have partners in peace to move forward.
But one thing that will not happen is that we will try -- the United States will try to conform and force parties to make decisions based upon the political schedule in America. That doesn't make any sense. What matters is the decisions made by the Palestinians and the Israelis, and the confidence earned as we move forward.
And so you said I would like to see two states before I get out of office." Not true. I'd like to see two states. And if it happens before I get out of office, I'll be there to witness the ceremony. And if it hadn't -- if it doesn't, we will work hard to lay that foundation so that the process becomes irreversible.
Timetables are interesting -- an interesting thing. Everybody wants a timetable, it seems like, on different issues. And these are very complicated matters where years of conflict and years of mistrust are being resolved by some basic truths. And one of the basic truths is free societies are peaceful societies. And so we can look forward to working with a partner in peace, a person who said, vote for me, I'm for peace, and a man who declares his understanding that the Palestinian people, the long-suffering Palestinian people, will be well served by a democracy, a truly functioning democracy.
And so, Mr. President, we're glad you're back. I want to thank you for your strong leadership, and we wish you all the very best. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you.