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once again, doesn't really fit the cliches:
"US President George W Bush has said Israel must end its occupation of some Arab land to enable the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
He also urged a solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees that would involve paying them compensation.
It is thought to be Mr Bush's strongest public statement pressing Israel to give up land it seized in the 1967 war.
He was speaking in Jerusalem following two days of separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
He has been trying to encourage the two sides into peace talks, and says he wants a peace deal signed by the time he leaves office in January 2009.
Mr Bush said in a statement: "It is vital that each side understands that satisfying the other's fundamental objectives is key to a successful agreement."
He said this would require:
* secure recognised and defensible borders for Israel
* a viable, contiguous, sovereign and independent Palestinian state
He added: "Agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people."
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so much for the millenialist trying to achieve biblical prophecies that would bring about armageddon, or whatever he was supposed to be according to some more hysterical commentators.
even among those who should be more responsible, i hope in time that there is some sober reflection. the world would have been better off for this man being presented for what he is: a not terribly impressive, and probably intellectually lightweight politician grappling with some of the most serious geopolitical issues any president has faced with a while.
the truth is more prosaic, but just as serious as the babbling of hysterics, propagandists and fatboy fibbers. instead we've had inflationary hysterics that contribute to polarisation, division and disharmony and an increasingly flighty and irresponsible western intellectual climate.
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Foreign Office
2nd November 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild:
I have much pleasure in conveying to you on behalf of His Majesty's
Government the following declaration of our sympathy with Jewish Zionist
aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine
of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best
endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly
understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the
rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." I should
be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the
Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour
An old one, but a declaration that shows this whole issue needs to be sorted out soon.
One of the chaps I've interviewed recently served in palestine just before the end of the UK mandate, being attacked by jews and arabs alike. You could add this one to the Kosovo/N.I thread to really pickle folk's heads man
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. 90 years on and still not sorted, particularly the "it being clearly
understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine"