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American Morning
Road to Peace in Middle East
Aired June 02, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will make a personal appeal for peace this week when he meets this week with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. The summit Wednesday in Jordan will be the ceremonial launch to the president's road map to Mideast peace. The president says both sides are moving in the right direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today in the Middle East, the emergence of new Palestinian leadership, which has condemned terror, is a hopeful sign that the parties can agree to two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: So, what is at stake this week for the president and the peace process? Our guest this morning from London, James Rubin, former assistant secretary of state for public affairs.
Jamie, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
JAMES RUBIN, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Good morning.
KAGAN: What exactly is President Bush walking into by going face-to-face with these leaders, going to a place where he certainly didn't seem to want to go at the beginning of his administration, and seem to fight for as long as possible?
RUBIN: Yes. After many, many months, if not years, of neglecting this issue, because he regarded this too hard or too difficult, the president is plunging into the beginning of what many people expect to be a series of high-level efforts to push the Middle East peace process forward. This is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. After two years of fighting day after day, of many thousands of deaths amongst Palestinians and Israelis, there is an extraordinary amount of bitterness between the two populations.
But after the victory in the war in Iraq, people believe that there is a new moment of opportunity, that the Palestinians realize that they're going to have to pursue a peace process and have to crack down on those who only want to pursue terror. And the Israelis realize that their economy is in dire straits, that the current approach is not working to protect Israel security, and some way must be found to do what Prime Minister Sharon said, to end the occupation that has caused Israel so much pain and suffering.
KAGAN: Yes, and these first initial steps, I want to break it down just a little bit and get your feedback on how much you think is possible. First, from the Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, can he indeed deliver an end to the violence from groups like Hamas?
RUBIN: Well, that's a big question I don't think anybody knows the answer to. We do know that during the mid-'90s when the Palestinian Authority have a security force, had weapons, had intelligence-sharing with the Israelis and the Americans, that if they so chose during those days they could crack down on Hamas and other organizations.
Now, Hamas has grown stronger in the years that the Palestinian Authority has grown weaker. The Israelis have targeted the Palestinian Authority, destroyed their infrastructure, denied them the ability to get information, weaponry and intelligence.
So, it's an open question whether they have the power to do so, and therefore the Palestinian prime minister is trying to persuade, through discussions rather than power, the Hamas and others to move towards ending terrorist attacks. But we just don't know whether it's going to work.
KAGAN: Well, and it's just difficult. Let's look at the Israelis. When you heard the word "occupation" come out of the mouth of Ariel Sharon last week talking about the 200,000 or so settlers that live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, I think a lot of jaws dropped. Words are one thing. Can he actually deliver and clear out settlements that he was once a huge proponent of?
RUBIN: Yes. Look, there are two settlement issues. One, are the new outposts that have been put up since the intifada began in 2000, and there are several dozen of those small outposts. The second issue is the settlements that have been built up over the last several decades, which the Israelis believe need to be expanded or need to grow, and naturally when additional housing is needed.
On the first issue, outposts, I think it's very possible that this prime minister will take the steps necessary, if the Palestinians do what they need to do, and eliminate some of those new outposts. But when it comes to freezing settlements in the West Bank, which is what's contained in this so-called road map, Prime Minister Sharon has suggested both publicly and privately that that is not really on his agenda.
KAGAN: Jamie Rubin in London -- Jamie, thank you.
RUBIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 2, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will make a personal appeal for peace this week when he meets this week with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. The summit Wednesday in Jordan will be the ceremonial launch to the president's road map to Mideast peace. The president says both sides are moving in the right direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today in the Middle East, the emergence of new Palestinian leadership, which has condemned terror, is a hopeful sign that the parties can agree to two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: So, what is at stake this week for the president and the peace process? Our guest this morning from London, James Rubin, former assistant secretary of state for public affairs.
Jamie, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
JAMES RUBIN, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Good morning.
KAGAN: What exactly is President Bush walking into by going face-to-face with these leaders, going to a place where he certainly didn't seem to want to go at the beginning of his administration, and seem to fight for as long as possible?
RUBIN: Yes. After many, many months, if not years, of neglecting this issue, because he regarded this too hard or too difficult, the president is plunging into the beginning of what many people expect to be a series of high-level efforts to push the Middle East peace process forward. This is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. After two years of fighting day after day, of many thousands of deaths amongst Palestinians and Israelis, there is an extraordinary amount of bitterness between the two populations.
But after the victory in the war in Iraq, people believe that there is a new moment of opportunity, that the Palestinians realize that they're going to have to pursue a peace process and have to crack down on those who only want to pursue terror. And the Israelis realize that their economy is in dire straits, that the current approach is not working to protect Israel security, and some way must be found to do what Prime Minister Sharon said, to end the occupation that has caused Israel so much pain and suffering.
KAGAN: Yes, and these first initial steps, I want to break it down just a little bit and get your feedback on how much you think is possible. First, from the Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, can he indeed deliver an end to the violence from groups like Hamas?
RUBIN: Well, that's a big question I don't think anybody knows the answer to. We do know that during the mid-'90s when the Palestinian Authority have a security force, had weapons, had intelligence-sharing with the Israelis and the Americans, that if they so chose during those days they could crack down on Hamas and other organizations.
Now, Hamas has grown stronger in the years that the Palestinian Authority has grown weaker. The Israelis have targeted the Palestinian Authority, destroyed their infrastructure, denied them the ability to get information, weaponry and intelligence.
So, it's an open question whether they have the power to do so, and therefore the Palestinian prime minister is trying to persuade, through discussions rather than power, the Hamas and others to move towards ending terrorist attacks. But we just don't know whether it's going to work.
KAGAN: Well, and it's just difficult. Let's look at the Israelis. When you heard the word "occupation" come out of the mouth of Ariel Sharon last week talking about the 200,000 or so settlers that live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, I think a lot of jaws dropped. Words are one thing. Can he actually deliver and clear out settlements that he was once a huge proponent of?
RUBIN: Yes. Look, there are two settlement issues. One, are the new outposts that have been put up since the intifada began in 2000, and there are several dozen of those small outposts. The second issue is the settlements that have been built up over the last several decades, which the Israelis believe need to be expanded or need to grow, and naturally when additional housing is needed.
On the first issue, outposts, I think it's very possible that this prime minister will take the steps necessary, if the Palestinians do what they need to do, and eliminate some of those new outposts. But when it comes to freezing settlements in the West Bank, which is what's contained in this so-called road map, Prime Minister Sharon has suggested both publicly and privately that that is not really on his agenda.
KAGAN: Jamie Rubin in London -- Jamie, thank you.
RUBIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
