G. Dubya in his speech earlier today:

"When the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state, whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East."

First of all,
New Leaders:
"The Arab world will not sleep tonight...he practically demanded the removal of Arafat, the symbol of Palestinian unity...The Palestinians have elected Arafat and they will elect him again. If the Palestinians re-elect Arafat, are they going to be punished?" -- Mohamed el-Sayed Said, Washington bureau chief for the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram

Second:
New Institutions

The following are excerpts from AlterNet -- Indecent Proposal:

"Interim independence and partial sovereignty make as much sense politically as a woman being somewhat pregnant. Independence and sovereignty are either fully realized or meaningless.

Much the same may be said about the president's repeated calls for the Palestinian Authority to become democratic. While Palestinian reforms are clearly needed, it is absurd to speak of creating a democracy among noncitizens of a nonstate under a foreign military occupation and without meaningful sovereignty.


The intensity, viciousness and frequency of Palestinian suicide attacks against Israeli civilians have only increased as a result of Israel's recent rampages and the sacking of many West Bank cities. Israel's plan, announced Wednesday, to reoccupy Palestinian-ruled areas is not a change of policy; it's a continuation of Israeli behavior over the last five months. More of the same will meet with just as little success.

And Israel's new "security fence" is another chimera offered up by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who continues to feed his people the illusion that the Palestinian uprising can be crushed and the occupation then continued in peace and security.

According to numerous reports, Sharon told a closed meeting of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that there would be no peace deal for at least 10 years; that Israel was prepared for a 100-year struggle; that a Palestinian state was out of the question any time soon; and that the key to Israel's security was 1 million new Jewish immigrants."

And third:
New security arrangements with their neighbors
Arafat is currently holed up in his HQ in Ramallah, the roads are blocked off, and as Time magazine so fittingly put it a few months ago, he is "all boxed in." How the hell can he negotiate security issues when he's being held a virtual prisoner in his own compound?

The following from BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Analysis: Israel's new tactics:

"Israel has a new policy - land for peace.

It is not the old land for peace approach, the grand vision under which Israel would withdraw from most Palestinian territory in exchange for recognition and acceptance.

This time, in response to the latest bus bombing in Jerusalem, the process goes into reverse. Israel will occupy some Palestinian land, which probably means major towns and cities, and hold it until the bombings stop.

In effect, the Israelis are saying, if we have no peace, we take a piece of your land. And if there are more bombings, then more land will be taken. And on and on.

The logical outcome is that Israel will eventually re-occupy the whole of the West Bank. Gaza remains, for now, relatively quiet. But its turn could come if bombers emerge from there as well."