The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

WASHINGTON — After last-minute negotiations on key details, the Bush administration formally announced Tuesday that it will host a Middle East peace conference next week involving nearly 50 different parties with a stake in the process. President Bush will speak at the conference Tuesday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. It "will be a launching point for negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of Israeli-Palestinian peace," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. Bush also will meet Monday and Wednesday with two key principals: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Annapolis details were finalized after days of talks over everything from who would participate to the agenda.

The Israelis and Palestinians are divided on such issues as borders, the status of Jerusalem and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israeli land. n addition, Abbas must contend with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Clinton and Bush, said the Palestinians are facing a civil war and that Hamas is prepared to attack Abbas for any concessions he might make at the Annapolis meeting. Olmert faces investigations into alleged corruption within his administration and his handling of the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and the Israeli military. In July, Bush had called for the global meeting. He has said he would like to see a Palestinian state by the time his presidency ends in January 2009. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino noted that Bush is the first president to call for a separate Palestinian state, doing so back in 2002. "

• JJ Commentary: While it always seems to be a good idea to seek peace, Israel and the Middle East are a different story. The implications here are of Biblical, apocalyptic proportions. Trading land for peace and submitting to a Palestinian state is in direct opposition to God’s will. This is ultimately a conflict between God and Allah, a counterfeit god. There never has been a Palestinian state nor a people group called Palestinians. The Romans were the first to refer to this general area as Palestine over 2000 years ago, which then included many different people groups including Arabs and Jews. The so-called Palestinian refugees have mostly been imported from other Muslim nations.