By Mike Cohen
Tribune Correspondent
MONTREAL – Former US President Bill Clinton chose to focus a lot of attention on Israel and the Middle East last week as he addressed more than 5,000 people at the Montreal edition of the cross-Canada Power Within conference series. He also spoke in Ottawa and Vancouver.
Greeted by a rousing standing ovation, Clinton said that the election of a Hamas government in the Palestinian territories might not be all doom and gloom.
“Does the election of Hamas mean we should not promote democracy for Arab States?” Clinton asked. “No, it does not mean that at all. It also doesn’t mean we have to provide the Palestinian Authority with funding, if their Hamas government continues to call for the destruction of Israel.”
Clinton noted that in polls taken among Palestinians after the election, a vast majority expressed hope that the new government would pursue peace with Israel. “There has to be a beginning,” he said. “I hope Hamas will find a way to say ‘we won an election, but in a democracy a government upholds (the policies) of previous governments and the commitment of the Palestinian Authority was to negotiate with Israel. Most people vote the same way you do – they want people who will fix potholes, open the schools, make the health clinics work. Hamas won because they basically convinced Palestinians they’d do a better job of making the trains run on time.”
Playing the diplomat, Clinton suggested that Hamas should allow President Mahmoud Abbas to be responsible for foreign policy, which would open the door for him to recognize Israel and continue negotiations.
Clinton said he regrets that during his eight years in office peace did not come to the Middle East.
“During the eight years we tried, 258 Israelis and 1,000 Palestinians were killed,” he said. “One thousand Israelis and 4,000 Palestinians died when we stopped trying over the next four years. So our failure wasn’t really a failure.”
Clinton travels frequently to the Middle East.
“When it comes to the Middle East you only hear about things there when it is bad,” he said, alluding to terrorist attacks in Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. “But there is another Middle East out there. Places like Bahraim and Quatar are trying to make good things happen. They disavow terror and promote an Islam that is consistent with respecting other people’s faiths.”
Alluding more specifically to the bombing of the hotel in Jordan, filled with people attending a wedding, Clinton said he visited the site recently with his wife and daughter and his heart broke at the sight of the destruction and upon talking to many of the victims.
His biggest regret as President? It was what he called his delayed reaction to the Rwandan genocide.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to the Rwandans,” he said. “I was too preoccupied at the time with the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Yet the Rwandans did not condemn me for it.”
These days Clinton says his time remains devoted to helping the poor and disadvantaged and those afflicted with AIDS. He is proud of the work he has done raising funds for the human tragedies of the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. He also reminded the audience that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks it was determined that $110 million would be required to take care of the immediate families of those who were killed or disabled. “So I worked with Bob Dole, who had run against me for president, and together we raised $110 million,” he said. “When I retired I asked myself what did I care about and where could I have the most impact. Saving lives and solving problems was my answer.”
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