MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Obama tells Palestinians UN is not a short cut to negotiations with Israel
The US president addressing the General Assembly US President Barack Obama told the United Nations that the Palestinians deserved a state of their own, but that this would only be achieved through talks with Israel.
“I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN,” Obama said in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
“Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians - not us - who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem,” the text of his speech said.
Grappling with economic woes and low poll numbers at home and growing doubts about his leadership abroad, Obama is wading into Middle East diplomacy at a critical juncture for his presidency and America's credibility around the globe.
Obama followed his speech with a round of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who echoed the president's assertion that renewed negotiations were the only path to a peace deal but offered no new ideas how to get back to the table. He said, however, that the Palestinians' UN statehood effort “will not succeed.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the UN give the Palestinians status as an observer state while setting out a roadmap for peace within one year.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly, Sarkozy warned that a UN Security Council veto of Palestinian statehood ambitions risked engendering a new cycle of violence in the Middle East. “Let us cease our endless debates on the parameters and begin negotiation ... to a precise timetable,” he said.
In a roadmap for peace, Sarkozy said negotiations should begin within one month, a deal on borders and security should happen within six months and a definitive agreement be reached within a year.
“Today we are facing a very difficult choice. Each of us knows that Palestine cannot immediately obtain full and complete recognition of the status of United Nations member state,” he said. “But who could doubt that a veto at the Security Council risks engendering a cycle of violence in the Middle East?”
Sarkozy said an intermediate stage should not be excluded.
“Why not envisage offering Palestine the status of United Nations observer state? This would be an important step forward. Most important, it would mean emerging from a state of immobility that favors only the extremists. We would be restoring hope by marking progress towards the final status,” he said.
The Palestinians have said that as an alternative to the Security Council, where the United States has promised to veto any statehood vote, they could ask the U.N. General Assembly to approve upgrading their membership from “entity” to “non-member observer state.”
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Abbas would study Sarkozy's proposals.
Top Comments
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Read all commentsThe important thing is to get the so-called palestinians out of Israel's territory.
Sep 22nd, 2011 - 05:24 pm 0Now here's a nice map of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kingdoms_of_Israel_and_Judah_map_830.svg Anyone see a nation called palestine? No? That's because it has NEVER existed. The so-called palestinians are a bunch of islamic arab terrorists. As demonstrated by their actions. Can anyone see the territory of the so-called palestinians on that map? Certainly not on the west bank of the Dead Sea.
What do we see in South America? Support for terrorists. Says a lot about South Americans. Largely composed of the descendants of transplanted Europeans addicted to land theft and genocide. Anyone notice that so-called South Americans are ethnically 85% European. Why would we be surprised that one bunch of land thieves would support another bunch of land thieves.
Archaelogical evidence (the Merneptah stele) shows that Israel existed in 1209BC. That's a 3,220 year claim. And that should be set aside in favour of a bunch of arab terrorists? Only by those who are terrorist supporters.
Argentines will know about this, as they are homosexual, thieving, cowardly, genocidal, intellectually-challenged, belligerent, mendacious, vicious nobodies.
There is a solution. If there are no so-called palestinians and no argentines, the problems are resolved.
I know you think you are helping, Conqueror, but your serial invective about the inadequacies of our Argentinian neighbours is only making matters worse.
Sep 22nd, 2011 - 08:13 pm 0To call a whole nation “homosexual, thieving, cowardly, genocidal, intellectually-challenged, belligerent, mendacious, vicious nobodies” is just rude.
I know you don't really believe this - so why do it?
Rise above it,
and attack specific examples of inadequacy, poor government, etc.,
not the whole people of the whole nation.
Really? Tell me about the openly-advertised gay capital of the world. Tell me about how s0-called Argentines haven't stolen all the land they live on and are trying to steal more. Tell us about how many Argentines surrendered in 1982? Tell us about the War of the Desert? Tell us about how they deny truth in favour of their own distorted propaganda? Tell us how they aren't belligerent toward Britain and the Falkland Islands?Tell us about how they don't lie through their disgusting teeth? Tell us about how a country of 40 million threatens a country of 3,000?
Sep 22nd, 2011 - 09:14 pm 0And I do believe it. Argentines deserve nothing but extermination. What any human being would do with any vermin. I remember the videos of tens of thousands of vermin celebrating in the streets of Buenos Aires about their “successful” invasion of a peaceful community od 3,000 people.
I used to work for the UK government and therefore had to restrict myself to UK government policy. No longer. To paraphrase, the only good Argentine is a dead Argentine. But not with a merciful bullet. I believe in using sharpened steel to rip them from groin to throat. Followed by gouging out their eyes. Destroying their genitalia. And leaving them to die in agony. And if they are male, preferably keeping them alive long enough to watch their females continuously raped in every orifice. Before killing the females and children as well. Slowly.
You have no idea how much I hate Argentines. Any chance you could show me one so I can kill it?
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