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Last update - 09:24 10/01/2008
On a Divine mission
By Ari Shavit
Tags: Palestinians, peace process 

The person who is waking up this morning in the presidential suite of the King David Hotel is a God-fearing man. A man who believes that a hidden hand brought him from Texas to the presidency in order to carry out a Divine mission. The president cannot say so publicly, but since September 11, 2001 it has been clear to him that the role assigned him is both historic and religious: to save America from the new barbarians; to defend the West from the Huns who are attacking it from the East.

Therefore, when George W. Bush gets out of bed this morning and approaches the large window that overlooks the wall of the Old City he really is excited. The believing Christian in him sees the city of God, whereas the man-with-a-mission in him sees the place where East meets West. The place where civilizations clash. The president sees the frontier line of democracy. The border of liberty.

Laura is in Washington, Condi is in the fitness room. Even Ehud may not have called yet. So that when the man from Texas looks at the golden halo of the Dome of the Rock, he has some time to think about everything that lies to the east of the King David Hotel: The Israeli occupation, Palestinian extremism, Arab dysfunction and Islamic zealotry, the struggle for Iraq and the threat of Iran, the disquiet in Afghanistan and the danger embodied in Pakistan. And the feeling that is spreading in the East that the West is in retreat. The increasing assessment that the 21st-century Crusades are about to end in defeat.
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The man standing at the window this morning is a very lonely man. He is vilified in his own country and almost a leper in the international community. The America that he tried to save has turned against him, and the West that he wanted to defend is dismissive of him. But George W. Bush is not deterred, nor does he bend to public opinion, to the media and to trendy thinging.

Unlike some of his friends, he is not an opportunist who changes his stripes. He conducts his dialogue with history and with God. And since he is a man of moral clarity and simple principles and character, he does not tend to give in. Even when the current turns against him he remains faithful to his truth.

George Bush defined his truth concerning the Holy Land on June 24, 2002. The political speech he delivered that day was the most important of all his speeches. The statement he made in that speech was the most penetrating international statement about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This was the essence of that statement: The solution to the 100-year-old conflict is a two-state solution, but before the two-state solution is implemented a Palestinian conversion must take place. Only after the Palestinian people undergo a conceptual, ideological and institutional conversion will it be possible to establish a Palestinian state that will exist alongside Israel in peace and prosperity.

So when President Bush looks at Jerusalem this morning, the question he should ask himself is whether he has remained faithful to his truth. The question that he should ask himself is whether the present diplomatic course does not contradict his own vision. And whether it is reasonable to expect that during 2008 the Palestinians will undergo the profound reform needed. And what the consequences would be of establishing an immature Palestinian state before the Palestinian conversion is completed. And whether there isn't a danger that a virtual diplomatic process divorced from reality will distance peace instead of bringing it closer.

The region spread out beyond the swimming pool of the King David Hotel is a gloomy one. President Bush can be proud of the achievements of recent months in Iraq, but he cannot deceive himself. The zealots still have the momentum, the moderates are finding it difficult to cooperate. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are putting out feelers toward Iran, Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad are walking on thin ice. In this state of affairs, the United States does not have the safety margins for another mistake such as the one that brought Hamas to power. A mistake of that kind will not only endanger the future of the State of Israel, it will endanger the ability of Western civilization to confront the forces of September 11, 2001.

The right formula is the Bush vision. To act with determination in order to create Palestinian capability before precisely defining the borders of the Palestinian territory. To promote Paris before devoting ourselves to Annapolis. To help the Palestinians bring about their conversion rather than pretending that the conversion has already taken place. In short: to return to George W. Bush's fundamental truths.

Many people mock President Bush. But the president who is descending from the presidential suite of the King David Hotel this morning is a courageous man. A man with a mission. Even when he erred, he did so because he was trying to deal with a challenge that others had evaded. But now, on his way to Bethlehem, the Church of the Beautitudes and Capernaum, Bush must be true to himself. He must leave a seal of truth in the Holy Land.
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  1.   Shavit Speaks A partial Truth 09:48  |  MB 10/01/08
  2.   Finally Haaretz puts out an editorial that has sense!!!! 09:51  |  Ben Uziel 10/01/08
  3.   Pause to remember the attack on the King David Hotel 10:05  |  Natallie Durson 10/01/08
  4.   Natallie Durson is saying: remember the past, forget the future 10:28  |  S 10/01/08
  5.   #3 nutullie never misses a trick at disinformation 10:29  |  victor hardman 10/01/08
  6.   A florid and overwritten piece from a fan of a fellow Zionist 10:33  |  Clickfool 10/01/08
  7.   Is this HaAretz? Surprisingly prescient 10:43  |  josef cohen 10/01/08
  8.   plain arrogance 10:46  |  roberto 10/01/08
  9.   Yes and no 10:54  |  Tulip 10/01/08
  10.   EXCELLENT ANALYSIS 10:55  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 10/01/08
  11.   Bet the farm on this 11:03  |  Clickfool 10/01/08
  12.   `He conducts his dialogue with history and with God` LOL 11:06  |  Michael 10/01/08
  13.   We must do what we can 11:20  |  Joseph 10/01/08
  14.   #6 worst president was Jimmy Carter 11:24  |  josef cohen 10/01/08
  15.   #5- Arabs were not "given" Jordan 11:31  |  Tarik 10/01/08
  16.   # 14 Carter may be tied with Bush 11:43  |  Natallie Durson 10/01/08
  17.   Robert from Mexico 11:47  |  Tulip 10/01/08
  18.   Natallie Durson 11:52  |  Tulip 10/01/08
  19.   "When the man from Texas looks at the golden halo... 11:55  |  Maureen Ann 10/01/08
  20.   Entire conflict explained in less than 20 lines 11:58  |  G. Marcus 10/01/08
  21.   ONLY SOLUTION: GAZA UNDER EGYPT; PARTS OF W.BANK LINKED TO JORDAN 12:01  |  G. Marcus 10/01/08
  22.   Tarik Jordan, and all of old Palestine belonged to the Ottomans 12:03  |  Jasmine Murphy 10/01/08
  23.   Just Another PATHETIC Attempt At Peace Sabotage! 12:03  |  Proud Pal Defender 10/01/08
  24.   The 3 options of G. Marcus 12:06  |  Tulip 10/01/08
  25.   Condi only implementing anti-Israel agenda of State Dept Arabists 12:08  |  G. Marcus 10/01/08
  26.   And Jews has to go through the same change 12:12  |  El-birawi 10/01/08
  27.   the palestinians will not change 12:14  |  nachson 10/01/08
  28.   G. Marcus, you ain`t seen nothing yet 12:15  |  Tulip 10/01/08
  29.   More BS from Shavit (an Itnatkut & Oslo Supporter) 12:17  |  Dudu 10/01/08
  30.   two different civilisations 12:18  |  nachson 10/01/08
  31.   #22 Does Israel belong to Bush now? 12:39  |  Edith 10/01/08
  32.   # 27 Maybe... 12:46  |  Edith 10/01/08
  33.   Drop the notion of Eretz Israel 12:51  |  A Bethlehemite 10/01/08
  34.   Bush Has Less "Vision" Than Stevie Wonder 12:57  |  dyinglikeflies 10/01/08
  35.   Don`t we all have to undergo some change? 12:57  |  Edith 10/01/08
  36.   #14 joseph cohen 12:59  |  Sarah 10/01/08
  37.   #3 Natalie 12:59  |  Charles 10/01/08
  38.   Hang on a moment, nachson 13:02  |  Murray 10/01/08
  39.   shavit ....israeli neo con 13:04  |  ravi 10/01/08
  40.   #25 tarik and the forgotten ottoman empire 13:11  |  victor hardman 10/01/08
  41.   DIVINE BULL 13:13  |  New Yoka 10/01/08
  42.   # 18 Tulip: It`s not as complicated as you think 13:27  |  Natallie Durson 10/01/08
  43.   Natallie Durson 13:30  |  Michael 10/01/08
  44.   #36 sarah it is more than just the presidency 13:52  |  josef cohen 10/01/08
  45.   If it were me, I would remember the history of the hotel.... 13:53  |  Tenar 10/01/08
  46.   murray 13:54  |  nachson 10/01/08
  47.   # 14 josef cohen....yes indeed 14:00  |  Lynn 10/01/08
  48.   # 6 Clicky...that honor still goes to Carter 14:03  |  Lynn 10/01/08
  49.   Natallie, aren`t you supposed to be in bed? 14:03  |  Tulip 10/01/08
  50.   Michael 14:05  |  Natallie Durson 10/01/08
  51.   dyinglikeflies...vision or not makes no difference 14:10  |  Lynn 10/01/08
  52.   # 37 Charles 14:13  |  Natallie Durson 10/01/08
  53.   It`s the Israelis who are need an ideological change 14:18  |  Dutch 10/01/08
  54.   #36 sarah it is more than just the presidency 14:21  |  josef cohen 10/01/08
  55.   What a load of rubbish - is this `journalism? 14:23  |  Don Camillo 10/01/08
  56.   an israeli soldier jailed for abusing palestinian 14:27  |  nachson 10/01/08
  57.   elbirawi 14:27  |  danny 10/01/08
  58.   Victor and Jasmine- you really don`t get it at all 14:33  |  Tarik 10/01/08
  59.   #23 PROUD PAL DEFENDER 14:44  |  DANNY 10/01/08
  60.   The thing about George Bush 14:49  |  Chris Linthwaite 10/01/08
  61.   Ari Shavit is a modest man:-) 14:55  |  Ofer Maimon 10/01/08
  62.   Conflation of 9-11 with Palestine 15:00  |  Steve 10/01/08
  63.   #10 Cipora, The fleeting dream is Israel 15:07  |  Dutch 10/01/08
  64.   I was reading the emotional fictional preamble looking forward.. 15:12  |  zmogus 10/01/08
  65.   #33 the gospel according to fantasy 15:17  |  victor hardman 10/01/08
  66.   Click "Hypocrite" Fool (third attempt) 15:20  |  Nik "BANNED" Miller 10/01/08
  67.   the Crusaders,the white man`s burden,colonialism,racism,murder 15:23  |  lakshmi 10/01/08
  68.   Moral Clarity and Simple Principles!!! 15:27  |  Yaakov Sullivan 10/01/08
  69.   zmogus "provided that his window was closed this morning" 15:30  |  litvak 10/01/08
  70.   zmogus and his avant garde writing 15:33  |  litvak 10/01/08