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Opinions/Editorials Title: Bush has shown he can wage war, but can he promote peace? n what can only be seen as a breakthrough in a moribund Middle East peace process, Hamas signaled this week that it is ready to accept a proposal for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The proposal was drawn up and signed by top Fatah and Hamas leaders who are imprisoned in Israeli jails. Although it stops short of accepting Israel's right to exist, it implies a willingness to recognize the Jewish state by calling for the creation of a Palestinian state "in all the lands occupied in 1967," meaning the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Hamas' acceptance of this proposal proves that the Islamist group is willing to moderate its stance and is taking timid but noticeable steps in that direction. Because Hamas is heading in the right direction, it only makes sense that the international community, particularly the United States, would start to soften its stance as well and to begin to openly encourage the Israelis and Palestinians to re-enter negotiations aimed at securing a two-state solution to the conflict. The door is open for U.S. President George W. Bush to make a historic contribution to regional stability, and by extension to global security, by showing that he can not only bring war to the region, but that he can also bring it to peace. Throughout his presidency, Bush has often declared that one of his key objectives is the establishment of a Palestinian state. Bush first called for the creation of a Palestinian state in June 2002, when he expressed the hope that a "provisional" state could be created within the next three years. Since then, Bush has renewed his pledge to push for Palestinian statehood several times, including in November 2004, when he set a goal for the creation of a Palestinian state before he leaves office. http://www.dailystar.com.lb Time is running out for Bush to meet this goal and make good on his promise to the world and to the Palestinian people. Bush would do well to redouble his efforts to achieve this objective, not only because he would be keeping his promise, but also because it has become increasingly necessary for Bush to offset his failures in Iraq. The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has had the unintended consequence of stirring anti-American sentiments in the region, with more and more young people heeding the call to fight against foreign occupation. A public U.S. push for the creation of an independent Palestinian state would go a long way toward demonstrating America's commitment to the right of Arabs to live in free and independent states and would offset much of the hostility and resentment stirred by the Iraq war. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is best described as "the mother of all problems and the mother of all solutions." Left unresolved, it feeds all regional crises and complicates Western relations with the Islamic world. But reaching a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement will go a long way toward reducing Arab resentment and regional instability and make the region's other conflicts that much easier to resolve.
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