WASHIGNTON, 27 May 2005 — President George Bush met yesterday with the leader of the Palestinian people. Mahmoud Abbas, the first Palestinian president to visit Washington since peace talks collapsed in 2000, complained of Israeli settlement activity and said “time is becoming our greatest enemy.” “We must end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict before it is too late,” Abbas said.
President Bush praised Abbas, saying: “You have made a new start on a difficult journey, requiring courage and leadership each day. And we will take that journey together. America wants to help.”
Standing with Abbas at a White House Rose Garden news conference, Bush said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah to consult with Israeli and Palestinian leaders about Israel’s planned August pullout from the Gaza Strip this summer.
Bush responded to Abbas’ plea to help him shore up his credibility in the midst of expanded Israeli settlements in the West Bank and taking disputed land for the West Bank security barrier, by announcing that $50 million in housing aid will be given directly to the Palestinian Authority to help build houses in the Gaza Strip.
Previous aid to the Palestinian Authority had always been given through third party organizations because of alleged widespread corruption in the PA under the leadership of the late Yasser Arafat.
“These funds will be used to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians living in Gaza, where poverty and unemployment are very high,” Bush said.
The US provides Israel more than $3.5 billion in annual aid.
The Administration has faced opposition to providing direct assistance with no strings attached to the Palestinian Authority from Texas Republican Rep. Tom DeLay, the majority leader in the House of Representatives.
In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, Abbas expressed concern that Bush’s two-state vision was being undermined by Israel. Under a headline entitled: “Message to Sharon: Set My People Free,” Abbas said: “Israel’s ongoing settlement construction in the West Bank, it’s insidious Wall, which, since not built on the 1967 border, is suffocating Palestinian cities and towns.”
Abbas said that the world’s attention would focus on Israel’s Gaza withdrawal but that the Palestinians did not see this move as a gesture of peace.
“Rather, it diverts attention away from Israel’s settlement expansion of the West Bank... and Palestinians fear the Gaza Strip will become a large prison,” he wrote.
Bush responded at the news conference by saying: “Israel should not undertake any activities that contravene road map obligations or prejudice final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. Therefore, Israel must remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion.”
The president added: “The barrier being erected by Israel as part of its security effort must be a security rather than political barrier and its route should take into account, consistent with security needs, its impact on Palestinians not engaged in terrorist activities.”
Asked about the presence of Hamas candidates on the July 17 Palestinian ballot, Bush said the United States has not changed its views of the group. “Hamas is a terrorist group. It’s on the terrorist list for a reason,” he said.
During questioning from reporters, Abbas said he envisioned the new Palestinian state, once officially established, will be “within the boundaries of 1967. That means those boundaries... should go back to the Palestinian people,” Abbas said.
The administration, however, has refused to reverse a statement it made last year declaring it “unrealistic” for Israel to return to pre-1967 borders and give up major settlement blocs in the West Bank.
