To the Point

Reaction to Bush's Speech on Palestinian Statehood

SPECIAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION: President Bush has all but called upon Palestinians to replace Yasser Arafat as their leader as he outlined a plan that could lead to an independent Palestinian state within three years. Bush said that once new leaders and security arrangements are in place, the US will "support the creation of a Palestinian state." Minutes after the speech, we get reaction from Palestinians, Israelis and two former ambassadors. SHAWQI ISSA Executive director of the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment DENNIS ROSS Former ambassador for Middle Eastern affairs during the Clinton Administration; director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy ITAMAR RABINOVICH President of Tel Aviv University and the former Israeli ambassador to the US HASSAN ABDEL RACHMAN Washington representative for the Palestinian Authority GEOFF AARONSON Director of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and one of the foremost authorities on the Israeli settlements issues FAWAZ GERGES Professor of International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies at Sarah Lawrence College; author of America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests?