I guess you can't control everything...

Details are now being revealed about the preparations for President Bush's visit to Ramallah. In addition to closing down parts of the city, President Bush's costly visit (which included repairing parts of the Muqata so that Bush would not have to see Israel's devastation of the building) the team made a reportedly number of demands on Abbas's staff:

* President Bush would NOT stand at attention for the Palestinian national anthem (even though he stood at attention for the Israeli anthem;
* President Bush would NOT go to Bethlehem with President Abbas, thereby reinforcing the claim that Abbas is the President of Ramallah
* President Bush would NOT place a wreath of President Arafat's grave;
* President Bush did NOT want to see any pictures of Arafat. It is reported that President Bush's team asked Abbas's team to remove President Arafat's photograph from the wall of the meeting room where Presidents Bush and Abbas would be meeting. Although Chaim is still trying to determine whether the photo was actually removed or simply covered up by drapes (it certainly didn't appear in any of the photo ops), it appears as though someone from the Whitehouse staff was not as detail-oriented as needed: one photo of the late President actually escaped the watchful eyes of the protocol team. Take a look at this.



Tarboush tip: Dion

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When the Leader of the Free World Visits...

A normally busy street in Ramallah during President Bush's visit.

One would expect a visit from a leader whose foreign policy rhetoric included spreading freedom to bring people out, not shut them in. Palestinians are already captives in their own bantustans thanks to Israeli policies. When Bush comes to town, it's house arrest for everyone (as Mohammad reported).

After visiting Bethlehem and witnessing the apartheid wall, he said: "by my belief that there is an Almighty, and a gift of that Almighty to each man, woman and child on the face of the Earth is freedom."

The only American newspaper worth reading wrote an article about the dim Palestinian response to Bush's visit.

Some are making something out of Bush's trip through a checkpoint and reference to the Israeli "occupation" (which newspapers all have in quotation marks) and its need to end it. While this is a significant advance in using the right words to describe the situation, they do not mean much to the sayer -- a President whose primary achievement in office -- besides being re-elected -- was occupying two countries, and constructed countless checkpoints. For Bush, "occupation" is not a negative term.

Should we impressed he called on Israel to end the occupation? While some found his statements "uncharacteristically blunt," it all depends on what actions follow the words.

Palestinians and most observers are rightfully cynical about American administrations bringing peace. A few superficial gestures like what Bush did is hardly going to convince any Palestinians that liberation is around the corner. No one know the American presidential gap between words and deeds better than do the Palestinians. They experienced an "honest broker" who treated Israeli peace proposals as their own; a highly partisan interlocutor whose relations with Israel are defined by a sense of mutual agendas.

Even Israeli two-state solution proponents are doubtful, according to a piece in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Israeli politicians, including veterans of the various failed peace processes of the 1990s, ... saw nothing new in Mr. Bush's remarks, since nearly the entire Israeli public is already convinced of the need to give up some of the occupied territories. The question, said Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, is only "what form the separation from the Palestinians will take."

Some linked the speech to Mr. Bush's coming tour of Arab countries. The President will visit five Arab countries in six days, hoping to rally support for the peace process and firm up an alliance against the threat Mr. Bush says is posed by Iran.

"What's come out of this trip is just warm rhetoric. Anyone who expected more than that is going to be disappointed," said Yossi Alpher, who advised former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak at Camp David. "What is [Mr. Bush] prepared to do about it? Nothing, other than rhetoric, and he leaves tomorrow."

Bush has been a downright failure in foreign affairs. Even if he wanted to pull off this legacy-saving measure -- one that is sure to damn the Palestinians since separation won't mean sovereignty -- I doubt he could. He should have made a real effort when his political capital could afford it. This will clearly be too-little-too-late.

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Bush is coming to town!

George Bush is coming to town! People really are making a much bigger deal of this than they should, but I guess we have to feel something big is happening when the man who is responsible for so much suffering in this part of the world arrives. Security in Ramallah has been extra tight this week, with US security personnel pretty much out in the open. There will be a day-time curfew imposed on Irsal Street, Jerusalem Street and Nablus Street, the three largest arteries in Ramallah and Elbireh. Apparently, since I live near Abbashole’s Center of Collaboration (The Muqata, what?) I am liable to get popped in the skull by a Secret Service sniper if I dare stick my head out of the window. This shit all seems a bit much-Bush ain’t the first head of state to visit Ramallah, and we’ve always been nice to the others. Even Condi can have the Palestinian security services arrest and/or beat the Holy Living Shit out of anybody who dares protest against her. But this is Bush, and he can’t go anywhere without pissing the locals off in an unprecedented fashion. Unless they’re Israelis. They like him.

I caught his press conference with Olmert, and it’s sad that they don’t even try to hide their ulterior motives anymore. Praising Olmert continuously for his ‘efforts’ towards peace, Bush ignored the huge settlement projects announced by Israel since Annapolis, insisting that the biggest obstacle to peace is not occupation, oppression, land-theft, the denial of human rights, collective punishment, deportations, political prisoners, border closures, military operations and settlements, but that always convenient pain in the ass: terror. Olmert used the opportunity to announce to Abbashole that he would not tolerate Palestinian attacks on Israel, even from territories that his BFF doesn’t control. Then, without being prompted, they laid into Iran, Bush meekly assuring the Israelis that even though his own intelligence agencies tell him Iran’s threat to world security is considerably exaggerated, he trusts the Mossad more.

Oh, and he told the Arab countries to recognize Israel’s contributions to peace. I’m sure the Lebanese and Palestinians will vouch for it.

There really is a strong undercurrent of anger brewing here, at Bush and the Israelis naturally, but also at the Palestinian Authority, which is going out of its way to restrict freedom of speech. If people were allowed to, there would be thousands and thousands protesting in Ramallah tomorrow-but Salam Fayyad’s thugs don’t like people protesting.

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