In January of 2008 President George W. Bush made diplomatic visits to several countries throughout the Middle East. The visit followed the recent summit in Annapolis aimed at reinvigorating peace talks between Israel and Palestine

Despite being being the first U.S. president to openly voice support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, Arab officials have neglected to praise the president. While Arab officials have been encouraged by Bush's vocal support of Palestine, they view his call for a Palestinian state as lip services.

• Google News: Bush Middle East Visit 2008
• Guardian Unlimited: Bush wraps up Middle East visit on Peace, Iran, Oil (January 16, 2008)
• Washington Institute: Bush's Middle East Trip: The president Embraces Rice Approach (January 16, 2008)
• Financial Times: Bush vows to 'stay engaged' with Middle East (January 16, 2008)
• Christian Science Monitor: Palestinians little moved by Bush visit (January 11, 2008)
• CNN.com: Bush predicts Mideast peace pact by 2009 (January 10, 2008)
• BBC News: Middle East tour diary: Day One (January 9, 2008)
  • "President George W. Bush embarks this week on a trip to the Middle East that may determine how history judges his legacy. So far, it is safe to say that the judgment will be largely negative."
• Times Online: Gunboats and rocket attacks blight Bush peace mission (January 9, 2008)

• Al Jazeera: Protest In Gaza Against Bush Visit (January 8, 2008)
  • "Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have gathered to protest against the visit of the US president to the occupied West Bank...Negotiating sessions since the gathering in Annapolis, Maryland, in late November have been marred by Israeli construction plans in disputed territory and violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
• Los Angeles Times: Bush to visit an ambivalent Israel (January 8, 2008)
  • "Israelis credit Bush's positions with helping protect them from Palestinian suicide bombers. But many fault him for pursuing sweeping regional goals that they fear have backfired...[Israelis]] worry that the U.S. intervention in Iraq has benefited Israel's more dangerous enemy, Iran..."
• Foreign Policy In Focus: Bush's Israel Problem -- And Ours (January 8, 2008)
  • "if [Bush] is really going to burnish his legacy by moving both sides closer to peace, as the pundits say, he faces enormous problems on both sides..."

• Google Blog Search: Bush Middle East Visit 2008