Hi there kaykam,
I'd like to start with a little bit of background information, the
relavence of which will be revealed at the end of the answer. The
*actual* road to Jerusalem was created by the Jewish forces in 1948,
just after the United Nations had created separate Israeli and
Pelestinian states. Briefly, the Arabs were none too happy about this
and invaded Israel, cutting off the track between Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem. The 'cut off' resulted in an inability to get supplies to
Jerusalem. The 'road to Jerusalem' was built through the mountains
that surrounded the city, away from the main road, and stopped the
people of Jerusalem from starving. Shortly after its construction, the
United Nations negotiated a ceasefire in the region.
Sources:
The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
(see below for web address)
Anyways, on to your question. The 'Road to Jerusalem' in the sense
that it is used by the Bush administration is not really a 'position'
but an idea as to how the various crises in the Middle East may be
solved.
As you know, the US is currently preparing to go to war against Iraq.
Some political commentators think that Iraq may prove the 'Road to
Jerusalem' in the sense that when the Iraq 'situation' is 'fixed'
(whatever this may mean), peace between Israel and Palestine will
become much more attainable. "...Analysts believe the administration
of U.S. President George W. Bush is determined to strike Iraq
militarily and may try to use a victory over Saddam as a springboard
to impose a final settlement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and
spark the fall of so-called "rogue regimes" from Tripoli and Tehran to
Damascus" (Donovan, 2002).
The specific phrase "the road to Jerusalem" is used for two reasons,
the first of these is because it's catchy and allows a lot of
metaphors to be used when journalists write about it. Secondly, the
phrase ties in nicely with the circumstances surrounding the actual
road to Jerusalem, which (as I mentioned above - see how it ties in?!)
was finished just before the United Nations negotiated a ceasefire
between the Israeli and Palestinian States.
References:
“Virtual Israel Experience – The Road to Jerusalem”
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/vie/vieroad.html
Copyright 2001 The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
Truth News “Mideast Policy -- Does The Road To Jerusalem Run Through
Baghdad?”
http://www.burstnet.com/cgi-bin/ads/ba9184a.cgi/RETURN-CODE/if/2001081902/
By Jeffery Donovan Copyright © 2002 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the
permission of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave.,
N.W. Washington DC 20036
Further Information...
...about the events leading up to the siege of Jerusalem can be found
at
http://www.idf.il/english/history/nachshon.stm , which is an article
by the Israel Defence Forces titled “50 Years Ago: Operation Nachshon”
©Copyright IDF 1996-2002
...about the siege itself can be found at the "Virtual Israel
Experience", address noted above
...about the current "Road to Jerusalem" theory can be found at the
'Truth News' website, address noted above. The Truth News site keeps
quite a comprehensive back-catalog of articles relating to the Middle
East that have appeared on its website, these may be worth looking at.
All these articles were found by using the Google search engine, with
the terms ' "road to jerusalem" bush administration ' entered.
I hope I have satisfactorily answered your question,
Best Wishes,
shananigans-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
shananigans-ga
on
12 Sep 2002 07:54 PDT
Hello again kaykam,
It appears that my answer constituted one part of the 'road to
Jerusalem', and your answer has given me the direction needed to
search out the other part - I appologise for not thinking laterally
with respect to this.
This is from US President G.W. Bush's June 25 2002 speech on an
Israeli and Palestinian state, the entirity of which is located at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,761352,00.html
"As new Palestinian institutions and new leaders emerge, demonstrating
real performance on security and reform, I expect Israel to respond
and work toward a final status agreement. With intensive effort by
all, this agreement could be reached within three years from now. And
I and my country will actively lead toward that goal."
In light of this, I would like to clarify my answer in hope that it
will satisfy you.
Firstly, the idea that the Israel-Palestine situation can be resolved
more easily once the Iraq situation is resolved stands. However,
another element of 'the road to [peace in] Jerusalem' is thought by
the US to be the toppling of the current Palestinian leader in favour
of someone who is more 'West-friendly'. As Israel is already 'under
the wing' of America, if Palestine becme more 'moderate' in its
Islamicism and shared at least some sort of common belief with the
Israelis (i.e. if Palestine became westernised), this would hopefully
lead to peace and increased support for the US in the region.
If I've not answered satisfactorily, please do not hesitate to
question and comment on my conclusions.
Best wishes,
shaanigans-ga
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