For the first time in history, here is the Prime Minister of Israel (Yitzhak Rabin) shaking hands with the Chairman of the PLO (Yasser Arafat). What an inspiring image!
Fourteen years later, George W. Bush has come out strongly in support of a renewed push towards peace in Palestine, and has claimed to support the creation of an independent Palestinian state. This is a refreshing change from his usual unconditional support of Israel's policies, good and bad. We will see over the next year whether Bush's words turn into real material and diplomatic support for political moderates within Palestine.
Bush has also made a shameless attempt to reproduce the beautiful photo ops of the Oslo accords. Check out this photo, taken within the last week,
I'm not saying its a bad thing that Bush tried to reproduce the above photo, substituting himself for Clinton. It's just not as inspiring as it was the first time around.
By the way, the man on the right in the second photo, Mahmoud Abbas, is the same man who signed the first Oslo Accords back in 1993 on behalf of Palestine. This is interesting, since most people believe that Arafat signed the accords in 1993. Although I don't defend every one of his policies and decisions, I think that Abbas deserves all the support that we can give him. Since at least the the 1970's, he has worked behind the scenes for peace and moderation. Unfortunately, he is still way ahead of his time.
