[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 51 (Monday, December 21, 1998)]
[Pages 2486-2487]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Luncheon Hosted by Chairman Arafat in Gaza City

December 14, 1998

    Chairman Arafat, Mrs. Arafat, distinguished leaders of the 
Palestinian community, colleagues, and friends: On behalf of my family 
and our entire delegation, we thank you for your warm and truly 
memorable welcome.
    Mr. Chairman, as I promised you at Wye River, I have come to Gaza to 
speak about the benefits of peace based on mutual respect. I know that 
the circumstances you've faced since 1993 and the signing of the peace 
have remained difficult, but there are reasons for hope. For the first 
time in the history of the Palestinian movement, the Palestinian people 
and their elected representatives now have a chance to determine their 
own destiny on their own land.
    I am proud to be the first American President to stand with the 
Palestinian people here as you shape your future. I want to emphasize 
that that future is possible because of the commitment you have made to 
live in peace and mutual respect with your neighbors, side by side.
    All this would have been hard to imagine in the darkest years of 
struggle, when most people expected the Middle East would always be a 
separate set of armed camps. Sometimes it takes more courage and more 
strength to make peace than it does to continue war. I thank Chairman 
Arafat for having the strength, the courage, and the wisdom to make 
peace and then to persevere on the path of peace.
    I thank the Chairman and, indeed, all Palestinians who embrace the 
idea that Palestinians and Israelis can share the land of their fathers 
together. I thank you for believing that the land which gave the world 
Islam and Judaism and Christianity can be the home of all people who 
love one God and respect every life our one God has created.
    America wants you to succeed, and we will help you to create the 
society you deserve, a society based on respect for human rights,

[[Page 2487]]

human dignity, the rule of law, a society that teaches tolerance, values 
education, and now, at last, has the chance to unleash the creative 
power of its people against the destructive pull of hopelessness and 
poverty.
    I think of you at this hopeful moment as a family reuniting after 
too many years of dislocation and despair; a community of believers 
helping to build a Middle East in which people of all faiths can live in 
security and peace; a people known through the world, like the olive 
tree, for your attachment to this land and now to peace; a society that 
demands of yourselves what you rightly demand of others.
    The way ahead may be hard and uncertain, but the way you have left 
behind is full of self-defeating violence and soul-withering hate. So we 
have no choice but the way ahead.
    Tomorrow my family and I, along with Chairman and Mrs. Arafat, will 
have a chance to visit Bethlehem, to light the Christmas tree at the 
beginning of this season which is so important for those of us who are 
Christians. The next time people celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem we 
will be on the edge of a new millennium, marking 2000 years since the 
birth of the Christ child, who became known to Christians as the Prince 
of Peace, who happened to be a Jew, who happens to be recognized by 
Islam.
    Now, if all that can be true, surely we can figure out how to solve 
these problems and go into the future.
    I close with these words of the poet, Hafez Ibrahim:

      People of a hopeful future, we are in need of leadership which 
      builds and people who construct.

      People of a hopeful future, we are in need of wisdom that counsels 
      and a hand that liberates.

      People of a hopeful future, we need you; fill the void, get to 
      work.

      People of a hopeful future, do not let tomorrow pass like 
      yesterday, in dusty existence.

      People of a hopeful future, your country implores you to think. 
      God willing, we will think and feel and act as one.

    Thank you. And thank you again.

Note: The President spoke at 2:15 p.m. at the Zahrat Al Madian. In his 
remarks, he referred to Chairman Arafat's wife, Shua. The transcript 
made available by the Office of Press Secretary also included the 
remarks of Chairman Arafat.