Palestinians criticize U.S. for killing peace efforts
Local Editor, 2-11-2009
Pointing an accusing finger at the United States, the Palestinians on Sunday said Washington's support for "Israeli" refusal to stop settlement expansion had killed any hope of enlivening peace negotiations soon.
"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by new-found support from the Obama administration, urged the Palestinians to "get a grip" and drop their settlement freeze precondition for restarting talks hanging since December.
On a one-day Middle East visit on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton approved "Israeli" entity view that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank should not be a bar to resuming negotiations -- opposing the Palestinian position.
Netanyahu has offered limiting building for now to some 3,000 settler homes already accepted by "Israel" in the West Bank. He does not consider building in Al Quds Al Gharbeya [occupied East Jerusalem], annexed in disobedience of international opposition, as settlement.
President Barack Obama himself, after convincing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in September to meet Netanyahu in New York, called only for "restraint" in settlement, not the "freeze" he had previously proposed.
Pointing an accusing finger at the United States, the Palestinians on Sunday said Washington's support for "Israeli" refusal to stop settlement expansion had killed any hope of enlivening peace negotiations soon.
"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by new-found support from the Obama administration, urged the Palestinians to "get a grip" and drop their settlement freeze precondition for restarting talks hanging since December.
On a one-day Middle East visit on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton approved "Israeli" entity view that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank should not be a bar to resuming negotiations -- opposing the Palestinian position.
Netanyahu has offered limiting building for now to some 3,000 settler homes already accepted by "Israel" in the West Bank. He does not consider building in Al Quds Al Gharbeya [occupied East Jerusalem], annexed in disobedience of international opposition, as settlement.
President Barack Obama himself, after convincing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in September to meet Netanyahu in New York, called only for "restraint" in settlement, not the "freeze" he had previously proposed.
Stung by Obama's about-face and Clinton's remarks, the Palestinians voiced their frustration.
"The negotiations are in a state of paralysis, and the result of "Israel's" inflexibility and America's back-peddling is that there is no hope of talks on the horizon," said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah.
He said the Palestinians were calling for the Arab League to formulate a "unified Palestinian-Arab position" on the stalled peace process.
Netanyahu told his cabinet that U.S. envoy George Mitchell would carry on efforts on Sunday to revive discussions.
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