Yes, it's reaching the level of hysteria at this point.
Minutes after Bush spoke, Qureia harshly criticized the U.S. president's stand. "He is the first president who has legitimized the settlements in the Palestinian territories when he said that there will be no return to the borders of 1967," he said. "We as Palestinians reject that, we cannot accept that, we reject it and we refuse it."
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat also dismissed Bush's statement. "This is like someone giving a part of Texas' land to China," he said, adding that over the years, U.S. administrations have assured the Palestinians that issues like borders and settlements would be handled in negotiations between the two sides.
Yeah, Saeb. Exactly like giving a part of Texas to China. 'Cause Texas is, after all, part of the secret ancient Chinese homeland, dontcha know, and located right in the heart of, um, China?
See, the thing about this is that, finally, we're getting around to the rule of consequences. It's something every person either learns as a child or has a very hard time accepting later on. Bad behavior will not be tolerated indefinitely. Keep it up? You lose. Which is to say that the U.S. administrations that gave those assurances weren't watching their flag being burned daily and their country being insulted hourly and their citizens being blown up on the way to deliver Fulbright scholarships as well as in Israelis buses, cafés and pizza parlors while smug, grinning palestinian spokesliars shrugged and winked. This is a wake up call. Because the clock radio and the alarm bell didn't work.
Other Palestinian officials also slammed the U.S. statement, including Yasser Abed Rabbo, who said "Bush and Sharon are trying to protect each others' political future but are endangering the political future of Israel, the Palestinians and the whole region."
Abbas Zaki, a leading member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, called Bush's statements a serious strategic mistake. Bush should not have touched on final-status issues such as the return of Palestinian refugees and borders, Zaki said on Al Jazeera television.
Khaled Al-Batsh of Islamic Jihad said the U.S. letter of assurances to Sharon and Bush's denial of the Palestinians' right to return were a declaration of war against the Palestinian people. Bush and Sharon will have to shoulder the responsibility for the new cycle of war, he said.
Arafat made his threats this morning, but I expect we'll be hearing more from him, as well. I'm not gloating. Really I'm not. They're words, after all. No more, no less. Oh, but it will be interesting to see when and how President Mubarak chimes in on this. Surely Bush gave him a heads up after their meeting on Monday. You know, the one where Mubarak pledged that Egypt would do "whatever it takes" to revive a peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
