U.S. President Bush said Saturday that peace in the Middle East requires "hard choices and real leadership" by Israelis, Palestinians and their Arab neighbors.
After defending Israel last week, and later expressing sympathy for the plight of Palestinians, Bush used his weekly radio address to make an evenhanded demand on all players in the Mideast, AP reported.
"The time is now for all of us to make the choice for peace," he said. "All parties must realize that the only long-term solution is for two states — Israel and Palestine — to live side by side in security and peace," the president said. "This will require hard choices and real leadership by Israelis and Palestinians and their Arab neighbors."
He urged Israel to continue withdrawing from Palestinian territory, but did not repeat his demand earlier this month that it do so "without delay." Nor did he identify any specific timetable.
Bush also demanded that the Palestinian Authority "act on its words of condemnation against terror." And, he said, "all Arab nations must confront terror in their own region."
"All parties must stop funding or inciting terror, and must state clearly that a murderer is not a martyr; he or she is just a murderer," Bush said.
Bush called Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent trip to the region "intensive and productive," though Powell was unable to craft a cease-fire.
Bush cautioned Americans not to expect too much in the near term from American efforts. "In this region, we are confronting hatred that is centuries old, and disputes that have lingered for decades," he said. (Albawaba.com)
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