Israel, Palestinians Begin A Path To Peace
Bush Announces Two Sides Will Immediately Resume Negotiations To Create Palestinian State
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Play CBS Video Video A Pledge For Mideast Peace Peace between Israel and the Palestinians has so far proven impossible to achieve, but the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis opened with an ambitious promise to do just that. Bill Plante reports.
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Video Elephant In The Room: Iran "Only On The Web": CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante lays out the lofty goals outlined today in Annapolis, and explains why Iran is the elephant in the room at the summit.
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Video Palestine On The Table President Bush will attempt to negotiate a peace agreement between Palestine and Israel at a leaders' summit in Annapolis, Md. Bill Plante reports.
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, shake hands as President Bush looks on at center, during the opening session of the Mideast conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his wife Aliza arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/ GPO, Avi Ohayon, HO)
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Ella Issacharoff, 12, of Bethesda, Md. holds a pamphlet bearing the Star of David at an interfaith peace rally, Nov. 25, 2007 in Annapolis, Md. (AP)
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A shopper in Gaza City, Nov. 25, 2007, looks over a sales display of mugs made to commemorate the Mideast peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, with portraits of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. (AP)
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Photo Essay Annapolis Summit U.S. hosts high-stakes Mideast peace conference at U.S. Naval Academy.
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, troubled leaders with fragile mandates for peace, told international backers and skeptical Arab neighbors that they are ready for hard bargaining toward an independent Palestinian homeland, a deal which has long eluded Mideast leaders and American presidents.
As evidence of how tenuous the peace negotiations are, CBS News correspondent Bill Plante reports that when President Bush arrived in Annapolis this morning, Israel and the Palestinians still could not agree on an agenda. CBS News has learned that Secretary of State Rice pressured Palestinian President Abbas to "come up with something to avoid the appearance of failure."
The launch of the first direct peace talks in nearly seven years was the centerpiece of a 44-nation conference Bush convened amid low expectations in this pretty, historic waterfront city east of Washington. Reading glasses on his nose, Bush opened the one-day session by reading the just-completed text of a joint agreement that had taken weeks of contentious negotiating, but set only the vaguest terms for the talks to come.
"This is the beginning of the process, not the end of it," Bush said.
The two sides understand that they need a deal, Bush said, and that they need one another.
"I pledge to devote my effort during my time as president to do all I can to help you achieve this ambitious goal," Bush told Abbas and Olmert as the three stood together in the U.S. Naval Academy's majestic Memorial Hall.
"I give you my personal commitment to support your work with the resources and resolve of the American government."
Bush has held Mideast peacemaking at arms' length for most of his nearly seven years in office, arguing that conditions in Israel and the Palestinian territories were not right for a more energetic role. Arab allies, among others, have warned that the Palestinian plight underlies other conflicts and feeds grievances across the Middle East, and have urged the White House to do more.
Bush seemed to be answering that criticism Tuesday, giving detailed reasons that the time is now. He said Israeli and Palestinian leaders are ready to make peace, there is a wider and unifying fight against extremism fed by the Palestinian conflict and the world understands the urgency of acting now.
Later, in an interview with The Associated Press, Bush spoke of the importance of giving beleaguered Palestinians something positive to look forward to - and he sketched a grim alternative.
Without a hopeful vision, he said, "it is conceivable that we could lose an entire generation - or a lot of a generation - to radicals and extremists."
"There has to be something more positive. And that is on the horizon today," the president said.
Prior to the conference's start, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev told CBS News, "Today is a good day for peace. But the real challenge is what happens in the weeks and months ahead. The real challenge is the follow through."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 830 CommentsUh! "b-easy63" wow! that''s horrible! I guess that part of the country is filled with psychotic criminals!I get horrified just seeing the pictures & reading about it! "at least they don''t eat babies"?yet!
Well, It''s obvious 2 me that it will be a could day in "HELL" before I take the family on vacation there huh! Hmm! I''d be better of sending them 2 a sleep in with Hanibal Lector on lsd!
Well maybe something good will come of this! I just pre-ordered some nice "Casbah" blue jeans & t-shirts from that part of the country! delivery date is a little long though? 2031a.d. huh! I should still be a 34-32!
regards. Oh by the way !
Well, It''''s back 2 business as usual 4 this team! After months of negotiations.
Olmert buys a 2 week vacation trip 4 Abbas in the Bahamas!!yea baby!
Abbas buys a string bikini 4 Conaleeza, because Conaleeza is going on vacation with Abbas!
& President Bush gets stuck bailing the fall hay!
V.P. Cheneys office sends Abbas a complimentary assortment of Jack Daniels & country music 4 the beach!
& free tickets 2 the new "show & Go" strip club ''''n bath house in Jerusalem 4 Olmet''''s cabinet!
WOW!! ain''''t this great!!
regards!
P.s. maybe they will give the people that shoot those rockets into other peoples homes a job 2 support there families! "I''ll try not 2 hold my breath on that one! just mortgage my $190,000 home!
Posted by b-easy63 at 06:09 AM : Nov 28, 2007
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Who cares......the point is that this is more about the Reformists muslims and the Jihadis.....and if the Jihadis win, I hope you like the idea that your children, or grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.
Posted by noseonurface at 05:44 AM : Nov 28, 2007
Did Moslems hate the Jews prior to 1948 or the Jews moving to "Palestine" or is their hatred a direct outgrowth of the Jews moving into those lands and claiming a right to them by dint of biblical history and a gifting by the UK and America?
To them, all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to finish the Holocaust, destroy Israel, and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra!
Posted by Edward1975 at 12:22 AM : Nov 28, 2007
What makes this especially interesting is that in 2006, congress passed a bill that stated the US could NOT and would not build permanent bases in Iraq. So what now? Repeal of that law, or just sweep it under the rug? or like FISA and rendition--ignore the laws and pretend we can legally do whatever we like?
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 2001
Posted by USAyesterday at 03:19 AM : Nov 28, 2007,,,
Israel does have what seems to be an incredible amount of influence and power over the United States no matter the roots or reason for it that is hard to comprehend. I never understood how Israel was able to bomb the U.S. warship U.S.S. Liberty and get away with it, killing and injuring many American Sailors as the ships Captain sat on deck bleeding from his injuries looked on in dismay! Ultimately even this was swept under the rug.
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 2001
" We believe with absolute certitude that now, with the White House and Senate in our hands along with the Pentagon and the New York Times, the lives [of Arabs] do not count as much as our own. Their blood does not count as much as our blood. We believe with absolute certitude that now, when we have AIPAC [the Israel lobby] and [Edgar] Bronfman and the Anti-Defamation League, we truly have the right to tell 400,000 people that in eight hours they must flee from their homes. And that we have the right to rain bombs on their villages and towns and populated areas. That we have the right to kill without any guilt. "
- Ari Shavit, Israeli journalist
" I''ve never seen a President -- I don''t care who he is -- stand up to them [the Israelis]. It just boggles the mind. They always get what they want. The Israelis know what is going on all the time. If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens certainly don''t have any idea what goes on. "
- Admiral Thomas Moorer, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff under Ronald Reagan
But Olmert didn''t have to "come up with" anything?
It is clear that the Palestinians will be asked to accept something ridiculous, and when they refuse they will be blamed for the failure of the talks.
This sham was purposely designed to fail, but to give Bush a diversion from his crimes against humanity.
NOTHING IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS IN AMERICAS NATIONAL INTEREST!
NOTHING THAT WARENTS 60 YEARS OF BLOOD AND TREASURE THAT WE HAVE POURED DOWN THAT TOILET OF AN AREA!
LET THEM PLAY IN THEIR SAND BOX ALONE! ALL OF THEM...WITHOUT AMERICAN BLOOD AND TREASURE!
GET BOTH SIDES OUT OF OUR POLITICS!
That is wise starleo! I try to do the same thing.
A tyrant such as "sininrick" should never be the cause of our blood pressure to increase, since his mind is of minimal influence on the educated (as we are).
Posted by USAyesterday at 12:54 AM : Nov 28, 2007
Thanks for your thoughts as well so I bid y''all adu and see you tomorrow.
Posted by radiob at 12:30 AM : Nov 28, 2007
Radiob I can hardly stay awake thanks for your input everything calmed down, I was so glad you signed in, and we really had a great discussion. I will try and get on earlier tomorrow have a great night.
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Posted by grazinggoat
A exorcism? Our world could use a exorcism on all of its leaders.
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