Bush's trip to Ramallah produced plenty of happy talk. He arrived at the Palestinian presidential compound in the West Bank mid-morning, and went into an hour and a half of talks. At a press conference afterwards, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, "Peace in the world starts from here, from the Holy Land." Bush himself said, "If given a chance the Palestinian people will work for freedom," and said he was confident that there will be "a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office."
Bush capped the two days of talks Thursday evening with a restatement of U.S. goals for a peace deal as well as encouragement for both sides to pursue talks. But if it hasn't been already obvious, Bush's trip to Israel and the West Bank this week has made one thing abundantly clear: the Israelis and Palestinians aren't making peace anytime soon. Israel is as resistant to basic peace process concessions as it has always been and the Palestinians are alternately weak or violent, depending on which part of their territory you look at.
In response, the U.S. has delivered more talk than action since the Annapolis summit late last year, and some of that talk has been contradictory. When the hope and hoopla of Bush's trip to the region fades in coming days, the U.S. will need to come up with more realistic goals for the next twelve months of diplomacy. Otherwise it risks undermining the very regional leaders.
Bush had no deliverable achievements to announce from the two days of talks. Instead, he and his advisers pointed to the Palestinian and Israeli agreements, made in the days before he arrived, "on the modalities for going forward with negotiations," according to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. These include biweekly meetings between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and lower-level meetings.
At Annapolis, the U.S. promised to moderate confidence-building talks; and Washington has named a three-star general to lead the process, consulting with each side and collecting the complaints lodged by one party against the other. At the Ramallah press conference, Bush dismissed questions about the sluggish diplomacy, saying that it was up to the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to take the tough steps. "The only way to have lasting peace, the only way for an agreement to mean anything, is for the two parties to come together and make the difficult choices."
雙語環(huán)球新聞：中東和平 光侃不練(圖)
布什去拉姆安拉一事產(chǎn)生了眾多樂觀的談?wù)?。他上午來到了位于西岸的巴勒斯坦總統(tǒng)府并進(jìn)行了一個半小時的會談。在隨后舉行的記者招待會上，巴勒斯坦民族權(quán)力機(jī)構(gòu)主席馬哈茂德·阿巴斯說：“世界和平從這里開始，從圣地開始。”布什自己說：“如果給他們機(jī)會，巴勒斯坦人將為自由而工作?！彼硎居行判脑陔x任前將會有一個“簽了字的和平條約”。
星期四晚上，布什在總結(jié)兩天的會談時重申了美國爭取和平協(xié)議以及鼓勵雙方進(jìn)行和談的目標(biāo)。但是如果說這還不夠明顯的話，布什本周的以色列和西岸之行使得一件事完全明朗了，那就是以色列和巴勒斯坦不會馬上實現(xiàn)和平。以色列仍像過去那樣反對為和平進(jìn)程做出基本的讓步，而不同區(qū)域的巴勒斯坦人要么軟弱無力，要么充滿暴力。
相對應(yīng)的是美國在去年晚些時候舉行的安納波利斯峰會后說得多，做得少，而且有些說法還是相互矛盾的。當(dāng)對布什訪問這一地區(qū)的期望以及所造的聲勢在未來幾天慢慢消退后，美國需要為接下來的12個月的外交制定更加務(wù)實的目標(biāo)，否則將冒損害那一地區(qū)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的風(fēng)險。
對于兩天的會談，布什沒有什么值得說的成就可以宣布。相反地，布什和他的顧問們都談到了在他到達(dá)之前所簽的巴勒斯坦和以色列的協(xié)議，這些協(xié)議根據(jù)國家安全顧問斯迪芬·哈德雷的說法是：“談判向前進(jìn)展的表現(xiàn)形式。”這些協(xié)議包括阿巴斯和以色列總理埃胡德·奧爾默特每兩周舉行一次會晤，以及舉行其他層次低一些的會晤。
在安納波利斯峰會期間，美國承諾協(xié)調(diào)雙方互建信任的會談。華盛頓還任命了一位三星將軍主持進(jìn)程并與各方磋商和收集一方對另一方的抱怨。在拉姆安拉的記者招待會上，布什拒絕回答有關(guān)外交行動遲緩的問題。他說，應(yīng)由巴勒斯坦和以色列的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人邁出艱難的步伐。他說：“通往持久和平的渠道，簽訂有實際意義的協(xié)議的渠道是雙方走到一起，做出困難的選擇?！?BR>
Bush capped the two days of talks Thursday evening with a restatement of U.S. goals for a peace deal as well as encouragement for both sides to pursue talks. But if it hasn't been already obvious, Bush's trip to Israel and the West Bank this week has made one thing abundantly clear: the Israelis and Palestinians aren't making peace anytime soon. Israel is as resistant to basic peace process concessions as it has always been and the Palestinians are alternately weak or violent, depending on which part of their territory you look at.
In response, the U.S. has delivered more talk than action since the Annapolis summit late last year, and some of that talk has been contradictory. When the hope and hoopla of Bush's trip to the region fades in coming days, the U.S. will need to come up with more realistic goals for the next twelve months of diplomacy. Otherwise it risks undermining the very regional leaders.
Bush had no deliverable achievements to announce from the two days of talks. Instead, he and his advisers pointed to the Palestinian and Israeli agreements, made in the days before he arrived, "on the modalities for going forward with negotiations," according to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. These include biweekly meetings between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and lower-level meetings.
At Annapolis, the U.S. promised to moderate confidence-building talks; and Washington has named a three-star general to lead the process, consulting with each side and collecting the complaints lodged by one party against the other. At the Ramallah press conference, Bush dismissed questions about the sluggish diplomacy, saying that it was up to the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to take the tough steps. "The only way to have lasting peace, the only way for an agreement to mean anything, is for the two parties to come together and make the difficult choices."
雙語環(huán)球新聞：中東和平 光侃不練(圖)
布什去拉姆安拉一事產(chǎn)生了眾多樂觀的談?wù)?。他上午來到了位于西岸的巴勒斯坦總統(tǒng)府并進(jìn)行了一個半小時的會談。在隨后舉行的記者招待會上，巴勒斯坦民族權(quán)力機(jī)構(gòu)主席馬哈茂德·阿巴斯說：“世界和平從這里開始，從圣地開始。”布什自己說：“如果給他們機(jī)會，巴勒斯坦人將為自由而工作?！彼硎居行判脑陔x任前將會有一個“簽了字的和平條約”。
星期四晚上，布什在總結(jié)兩天的會談時重申了美國爭取和平協(xié)議以及鼓勵雙方進(jìn)行和談的目標(biāo)。但是如果說這還不夠明顯的話，布什本周的以色列和西岸之行使得一件事完全明朗了，那就是以色列和巴勒斯坦不會馬上實現(xiàn)和平。以色列仍像過去那樣反對為和平進(jìn)程做出基本的讓步，而不同區(qū)域的巴勒斯坦人要么軟弱無力，要么充滿暴力。
相對應(yīng)的是美國在去年晚些時候舉行的安納波利斯峰會后說得多，做得少，而且有些說法還是相互矛盾的。當(dāng)對布什訪問這一地區(qū)的期望以及所造的聲勢在未來幾天慢慢消退后，美國需要為接下來的12個月的外交制定更加務(wù)實的目標(biāo)，否則將冒損害那一地區(qū)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的風(fēng)險。
對于兩天的會談，布什沒有什么值得說的成就可以宣布。相反地，布什和他的顧問們都談到了在他到達(dá)之前所簽的巴勒斯坦和以色列的協(xié)議，這些協(xié)議根據(jù)國家安全顧問斯迪芬·哈德雷的說法是：“談判向前進(jìn)展的表現(xiàn)形式。”這些協(xié)議包括阿巴斯和以色列總理埃胡德·奧爾默特每兩周舉行一次會晤，以及舉行其他層次低一些的會晤。
在安納波利斯峰會期間，美國承諾協(xié)調(diào)雙方互建信任的會談。華盛頓還任命了一位三星將軍主持進(jìn)程并與各方磋商和收集一方對另一方的抱怨。在拉姆安拉的記者招待會上，布什拒絕回答有關(guān)外交行動遲緩的問題。他說，應(yīng)由巴勒斯坦和以色列的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人邁出艱難的步伐。他說：“通往持久和平的渠道，簽訂有實際意義的協(xié)議的渠道是雙方走到一起，做出困難的選擇?！?BR>