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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 2/23/13

Palestinians Disqualify U.S. as Peace Broker

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By Nicola Nasser**

 

The "unbreakable alliance," which will be confirmed by the upcoming visit of President Barak Obama to Israel, will disqualify the United States as an honest broker of peace in the Arab -- Israeli conflict in Palestine, a Palestinian veteran peace negotiator says.

 

This "unbreakable alliance" will doom whatever hopes remain during Obama's visit for the revival of the U.S. - sponsored deadlocked "peace process," on the resumption of which depends the very survival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' leadership, and explains as well the Palestinian frustration, low expectations, unenthusiastic welcome and the absence of celebrations for their most cherished among world celebrities, in a stark contrast to the euphoria that is sweeping Israel in waiting for what the U.S. and Israeli officials are describing as an "historic" visit.

 

On February 19, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office released the official   blue, red and white logo   that will be on all documents and signs during Obama's visit late in March. The  logo shows the words "Unbreakable Alliance" written in English and Hebrew under a combined Israeli and U.S. flags .

 

During his visit, Obama will become the first ever serving U.S. president to receive Israel's presidential medal to honor the fact that he has " established the closest working military and intelligence relationship with Israel in the country's history: Joint exercises and training, increased security assistance every year, unprecedented advanced technology transfers, doubling of funding for Israel's missile defense system, and assistance in funding for the Iron Dome system," according to Steven L. Spiegel   in   Huffington Post   late last year.

 

Speaking exclusively to RFI Hanan Ashrawi, the Palestinian veteran peace negotiator and member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Israel's partner in signing the defunct Oslo peace accords, said the first -- term Obama administration "have just managed to buy more time for Israel" to "create facts on the (Israeli -- occupied Palestinian) ground."

 

" Our experience has been really tragic with this American administration," which "started with such high hopes and tremendous promises," but "they backed down so quickly it was incredible," she added, to conclude: "The U.S. has disqualified itself as a peace broker."

 

Therefore, " there are no plans to celebrate" Obama's visit to Ramallah, because "they haven't forgotten the part he played" in aborting the PLO's efforts in 2011 to win the United Nations' recognition of Palestine statehood as a full member and in opposing its UN recognition as a non -- member observer state the next year, according to Shlomi Eldar in Al-Monitor on February 14. Still, to make a bad situation worse, Obama will convey the same message to Abbas during his upcoming visit, because "our position has not changed" neither to Palestinian statehood nor to Palestinian national reconciliation according to U.S. State Department spokeswoman Olivia Nuland on February 19.

 

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*Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arab journalist in Kuwait, Jordan, UAE and Palestine. He is based in Ramallah, West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
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