Consulate Distributions

President Bush Visit to the Middle East, Martin Luther King and Human Rights, Presidential Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, U.S. Assistance to the Palestinians, Access to information in the U.S.A, U.S. and the Muslim World   

January 18, 2008 Distribution

President Bush Visit to the Middle East:

President Bush Discusses Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

King David Hotel
Jerusalem – January 10

Good afternoon. I'd like to, first, thank Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas for their hospitality during my trip here to the Holy Land. We had very good meetings, and now is the time to make difficult choices.  I underscored to both Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas that progress needs to be made on four parallel tracks. First, both sides need to fulfill their commitments under the road map. Second, the Palestinians need to build their economy and their political and security institutions. And to do that, they need the help of Israel, the region, and the international community. Third, I reiterate my appreciation for the Arab League peace initiative, and I call upon the Arab countries to reach out to Israel, a step that is long overdue. (Read more)

Bush Pledges Support to Israelis, Palestinians Working for Peace
United States seeks progress toward Palestinian state in 2008

After separate meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders January 9 and January 10, President Bush said he is increasingly confident that what might have been unlikely even a year ago is not only possible, but necessary: the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2008.  “Is it possible for the Israelis and the Palestinians to work out their differences?” Bush asked January 10 in the West Bank city of Ramallah.  “My answer is, absolutely, it’s possible.  Not only is it possible, it's necessary.  And I'm looking forward to helping.”  (Read more)

Bush Promotes Freedom, Justice Across the Middle East
Those who desire liberty will defeat extremists, President says

President Bush is encouraging the advance of freedom and justice throughout the Middle East during his eight-day trip in the region, but he also is warning of the dangers posed by those who promote extremism, terrorism and insurgency that threaten regional security and undermine societies. "For decades, the people of this region saw their desire for liberty and justice denied at home and dismissed abroad in the name of stability.  Today your aspirations are threatened by violent extremists who murder the innocent in pursuit of power," Bush said during remarks January 13 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  (Read more)

Press Gaggle by Secretary Rice En Route to Kuwait City, Kuwait
Secretary of State briefs reporters on Air Force One

January 11

“…you saw very serious leaders, very serious negotiators who have already begun to have discussions about some of the hardest issues. They're not just focusing initially on the ones that are going to be easy to resolve; they really are having discussions about the core issues. ...over time they'll move together. ...So, so much has already happened in this process that I think there is reason to be hopeful that they can make a major move to end the conflict." (Read more)

Press Gaggle by Steven Hadley en route to Saudi Arabia
National Security Advisor briefs reporters on Air Force One

Aboard Air Force One
En Route to Saudi Arabia

Hello, everybody.  The President, just as we took off, called President-elect Saakashvili of Georgia, congratulated him on his electoral victory.  Saakashvili was appreciative of the President's call.  He indicated that he had reached out to the opposition and was going to try and build a consensus during his -- what will be, obviously, his last term as President.  It was a good call and obviously, at some point after his inauguration he will obviously come to Washington as the new President of Georgia.  (Read more)

Bush, Mubarak Pledge To Strengthen Efforts for Middle East Peace
Bush says Egypt is a strategic U.S. ally

President Bush January 16 said that, with steady engagement, a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord could be reached by the end of his term in office, and that the prospects for reaching an accord are strengthened greatly by support from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.  Mubarak emphasized in a meeting January16 with Bush at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula that he regards the Palestinian question as being at the core of problems and conflict in the Middle East.  The two world leaders met on Bush's final day of an eight-day journey that has taken the U.S. president through the Middle East.  (Read more)

Fore more on the Trip, please visit U.S. Consulate Jerusalem Website feature.  

Martin Luther King and Human Rights:

Presidential Proclamation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Bush honors the memory of King and his message of hope

On the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, Americans honor the memory of a man who stirred the conscience of a Nation.  We also recommit ourselves to the dream to which Dr. King devoted his life -- an America where the dignity of every person is respected; where people are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character; and where the hope of a better tomorrow is in every neighborhood.  (Read more)

Martin Luther King's Dream of Racial Equality
A dream fulfilled?

It was a march and a speech that the world cannot forget. August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington where they heard Martin Luther King Jr. give a speech of unsurpassable eloquence. Known ever since from its "I Have a Dream" passages, the speech gave impassioned voice to the demands of the U.S. civil rights movement -- equal rights for all citizens, including those who were born black and brown.  The speech particularly, coming near the close of the then, largest demonstration in U.S. history, created a new spirit of hope across the land. It was one of those rare moments in history that changed a nation -- paving the way for a transformation of American law and life.  (Read more)

Modern Abolitionists at the U.S. State Department
How the U.S. government fights human trafficking

After recruiters painted a beautiful picture of foreign job prospects, Aye Aye Win, a Burmese national, and some 800 Burmese migrants willingly traveled to a shrimp-farming and -processing factory and were forced to work day and night, were never paid and were forbidden to leave the remote barbed-wire-fenced compound. When she tried to escape, she was tied to a pole in a courtyard, beaten and denied food or water. She was freed by Thai police in 2006.  (Read more)

Presidential Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day 2008

Right to worship as one chooses one of most cherished values in U.S.

Thomas Jefferson counted the freedom of worship as one of America's greatest blessings. He said it was "a liberty deemed in other countries incompatible with good government, and yet proved by our experience to be its best support."  On Religious Freedom Day, we celebrate the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. The freedom to worship according to one's conscience is one of our Nation's most cherished values.  (Read more)

U.S.  Assistance to the Palestinians:

Computer Center Builds Skills, Networks for Palestinian Youth
Students use Internet to pursue community service projects

Hebron, West Bank -- Palestinian girls wearing pressed headscarves and jeans stride beneath a grape arbor to enter a computer lab in downtown Hebron, where they sit beside boys at the keyboards. Clearly, this is no ordinary Internet cafe.  Some 60 Palestinian teenagers gather at this clubhouse nearly every day after school. It is one of six West Bank Internet learning centers run by Relief International Schools Online, with a grant from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, to promote Internet exchanges between Palestinian and American youth. There are sister centers in Jenin, Ramallah, Salfeet and Bethlehem, and another opening soon in Nablus. More than 350 teachers and 3,000 students have participated in this innovative program.  (Read more)

Access to Information in the USA:

New "Sunshine" Measure Supports Openness in U.S. Government
Citizen access to information important to democracy

With little fanfare, a new U.S. law has been enacted aimed at increasing transparency and openness in the American federal government.  The measure, signed by President Bush on December 31, 2007, strengthens the ability of the press and the general public to gain information from the government through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  The signing attracted scant notice in the news media, and the White House issued a one-paragraph statement on Bush's action.  (Read more)

Ties Between U.S. and the Muslim World:

Sister Cities International fosters variety of exchanges

One of the leading citizen diplomacy groups in the United States -- Sister Cities International -- is fostering understanding between the United States and the Muslim world by increasing contact between ordinary citizens across the cultural divide.  "Since [September 11, 2001], one of our focuses has been trying to bridge the Muslim and Western worlds and dispel cultural misunderstandings.  We have been trying to build more partnerships and reactivate partnerships that already exist with new ideas and new opportunities," said Patrick Madden, executive director of Sister Cities International.  (Read more)