During the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ("Bibi") Netanyahu with President Obama, the President pressed Bibi to agree to the two-state solution:
"It is in the interests not only of the Palestinians but also the Israelis, the United States and the international community to achieve a two-state solution," Obama told reporters with Netanyahu sitting beside him.
Reuters
But Netanyahu would not agree even to that most basic principle.
"I did not say two states for two peoples," Netanyahu said later at a solo briefing with reporters.
Reuters
Now, through an aide, Netanyahu called the "media" focus on a two state solution "childish and stupid." Of course, this media focus is there because the President of our nation is focused on a two-state solution.
More, after the fold.
Here is the report:
An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that media focus on the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, favored by President Barack Obama, is "childish and stupid."
snip
President Barack Obama made it clear that the United States backs creation of a Palestinian state, but Netanyahu has not endorsed the concept. Dermer said focus on the idea of two states for two peoples was "childish and stupid," but he denied describing the concept itself in those terms.
msnbc
Sounds like a kossak insulting someone but trying to look like he or she is not. Pathetic.
This pisses me off. The only possible solution is a two state solution, but Netanyahu seeks to colonize the West Bank.
Not so fast said Presdient Obama on Monday:
"We have to make progress on settlements. Settlements have to be stopped," Obama said after meeting Netanyahu in the Oval Office.
AFP
Indeed, The Presdient reminded Netanyahu of the Israel government's committment to stop settlement building.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Obama for talks at the White House on Monday and the U.S. president afterwards reminded Israel of its commitment under a 2003 U.S.-backed peace "road map" to stop settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
WaPo
Of course, knowing they have support from Netanyahu, settlement building continues.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Jewish settler leaders on Tuesday shrugged off President Barack Obama's call for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank, saying Palestinians needed to "halt terror first."
Dani Dayan, chairman of the West Bank settlers' umbrella organization Yesha Council, said he felt assured that domestic political support would allow settlers to continue to live in the occupied West Bank.
"The Israeli electorate set a clear line for this government ... we have strong support in the new Knesset (parliament) and the things we hear among politicians certainly encourage us that if Netanyahu (halts settlement building) the Knesset will stand at our side," Dayan told Reuters.
WaPo
And Bibi sent his message to President Obama: it is "childish and stupid" to seek a peaceful solution if that solution does not allow for Israeli colonization of the West Bank. No two state solution. Instead, apartheid.
The only solution is for the United States to condition any further financial aid on an end to building settlements.
Instead of further war and deaths, we need this:
Prime Minister Rabin, Chairman Arafat, Foreign Minister Peres, Mr. Abbas, President Carter, President Bush, distinguished guests.
On behalf of the United States and Russia, cosponsors of the Middle East peace process, welcome to this great occasion of history and hope.
Today we bear witness to an extraordinary act in one of history's defining dramas, a drama that began in the time of our ancestors when the word went forth from a sliver of land between tide fiver Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. That hallowed piece of earth, that land of light and revelation is the home to the memories and dreams of Jews, Muslims, and Christians throughout the world.
As we all know, devotion to that land has also been the source of conflict and bloodshed for too long. Throughout this century, bitterness between the Palestinian and Jewish people has robbed the entire region of its resources, its potential, and too many of its sons and daughters. The land has been so drenched in warfare and hatred, the conflicting claims of history etched so deeply in the souls of the combatants there, that many believed the past would always have the upper hand.
snip
Today the leadership of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization will sign a declaration of principles on interim Palestinian self-government. It charts a course toward reconciliation between two peoples who have both known the bitterness of exile. Now both pledge to put old sorrows and antagonisms behind them and to work for a shared future shaped by the values of the Torah, the Koran, and the Bible.
snip
We know a difficult road lies ahead. Every peace has its enemies, those who still prefer the easy habits of hatred to the hard labors of reconciliation. But Prime Minister Rabin has reminded us that you do not have to make peace with your friends. And the Koran teaches that if the enemy inclines toward peace, do thou also incline toward peace.
snip
Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Chairman, this day belongs to you. And because of what you have done, tomorrow belongs to them. We must not leave them prey to the politics of extremism and despair, to those who would derail this process because they cannot overcome the fears and hatreds of the past. We must not betray their future. For too long, the young of the Middle East have been caught in a web of hatred not of their own making. For too long, they have been taught from the chronicles of war. Now we can give them the chance to know the season of peace. For them we must realize the prophecy of Isaiah that the cry of violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor wrack nor ruin within your borders. The children of Abraham, the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, have embarked together on a bold journey. Together today, with all our hearts and all our souls, we bid them shalom, salaam, peace.
Remarks at the Signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Agreement (September 13, 1993)
