Israel Matzav

US officially asks 'Palestinians' to give up UDI

Well, it certainly took long enough, but the United States finally officially asked the 'Palestinians' to drop the push for a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). I wonder if Obama even knows about it - he wasn't the one who asked.

The US on Wednesday officially asked the Palestinian Authority to abandon its plan to ask the UN later this month to recognize a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines.

The request was relayed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas by US envoy David Hale during a meeting in Ramallah, Palestinian officials said.

The meeting was attended by US envoy Dennis Ross and US Consul-General in Jerusalem, Daniel Rubenstien.

The officials said that the US envoys did not carry any new proposals for reviving the peace process.

One official told The Jerusalem Post that he did not rule out the possibility that the Palestinians would go only to the UN General Assembly, and not to the Security Council, where the US has threatened to use the veto to foil the statehood initiative.

"We have been advised by some or our European and Arab friends not to go to the Security Council because we don't have a majority in favor of the plan and because of the US threat to use the veto," the official said. "We are now studying submitting a request to the General Assembly to accept the state of Palestine as a full member. This is also an important step because it would give us access to numerous international bodies."

Hale told Abbas that Washington wants to see the Palestinians return to the negotiating table with Israel, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

is the goal of this exercise to avoid the necessity for the US to exercise its veto, or is it to create the conditions necessary to resume negotiations? If the US accepts the notion that the 'Palestinians' will go only to the General Assembly it will prove - yet again - that Obama's only concern is not to have to use the veto, and not the revival of the 'peace process.'

Moreover, where is the President in all this? If he had any junk - or competence - he would have gotten up months ago and officially asked the 'Palestinians' to withdraw the proposal altogether from both the General Assembly and the Security Council. Why is it that the President can find it within him to get up and give a speech about the '67 borders' - which predetermines the outcome of negotiations - without even consulting Netanyahu, but he cannot after months of talk get up the wherewithal to even ask Abu Mazen to back down on the UN? Oh, you mean Obama wants Abu Mazen to go to the UN? It sure sounds that way, doesn't it?

Labels: Abu Mazen, Barack Hussein Obama, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:53 AM