The determination shown by the Obama administration and Congress to ‘persuade’ the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from attempting to gain UN recognition of statehood is deplorable; their methods even more so.
US President Barack Obama, the man who pledged to bring about a Palestinian state, strongly objects to the Palestinian bid under the pretext that it is counterproductive to the peace process, which in reality has been defunct since former US President Bill Clinton left office in 2000.
As a man sympathetic to Palestinian aspirations prior to taking office, I wonder whether Obama likes what he sees in the mirror nowadays. Not only has he reneged on his promise to deliver a Palestinian state by September this year, he is vigorously opposing the creation of a state in name only. He is also using every tactic to bring US allies on his side while he twists the arm of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to proceed. Obama’s latest inducement aimed at luring the Palestinians to give up their right to a UN hearing was delivered by US envoys David Hale and Dennis Ross—dubbed ‘Israel’s lawyer’ by one of his former deputies.
The pair arrived bearing a written proposal for the resumption of face-to-face talks that instead of referring to Jewish colonies as ‘illegal’ attributed their existence to ‘demographic trends since 1967.’ It’s no wonder that Abbas considered this offer as ‘the last straw’ when its acceptance would have been tantamount to legalising Israeli expansionism.
