See You Again Soon?

After a thankfully uneventful visit by American President George Bush (or as they say here "Jarj Boosh"), we can collectively sigh as the heightened alert is lowered around the country, returning us to the status quo of merely being on the usual alert. Just before leaving Israel President Bush visited Israel's Holocaust Museum, Yad V'Shem, and appeared to be touched by the experience.

Bush was visibly moved as he toured the site, said Yad Vashem's chairman, Avner Shalev. "Twice, I saw tears well up in his eyes," Shalev said.

Not surprising since it is virtually impossible to visit any holocaust museum and not be moved to tears.

Personally, I haven't kept close attention to his visit, but I have seen/heard many passing reactions so far. Some say he is trying to do too much, while others say he has not done enough. Some say this unrealistically raises expectations in the region, while others say no one expects anything substantive to happen. Some say they are disgusted at his supposed biased support for Israel,while others are disgusted at his supposed biased support for the Palestinians.Some say he is trying too hard to be even-handed, while each side accuses him of not being even-handed. Some accuse him of viewing the conflict through the lens of his faith, while others wonder why he doesn't act according to his faith in these matters. Some accuse him of being left-handed, others accuse him of being right-handed. And so on. Listening the politics is really discouraging (which is why I do not pay much attention to it) but it was nice for him to visit and at least make the effort to move things in a positive direction. Believe me, it's better than nothing.

He plans to return in May, so without any predictions or prophecies, we'll just see what happens between now and then.