PA Chair Abbas: 'We refuse to recognize a Jewish state,' but Obama speech clearly said PA must do so as basis for talks

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5/23/11, "Obama's 'Jewish state' reference jars Palestinians," AP

6/2/11, "PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We Refuse to Recognize a Jewish State"," MEMRI

"Following are excerpts from an interview with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on June 2, 2011:

Mahmoud Abbas: With regard to [Palestinian recognition] of a Jewish state, or whatever, this has never been an issue. Throughout the negotiations between the Israeli and us, from 1993 until a year ago, we never heard the words "Jewish state." Now, they have begun to talk about it, and our response was: "Go to the UN, and call yourselves whatever you want. We are not the party to address. Not only that – we refuse to recognize a Jewish state. Try to wrest it out of the UN or anyone else. Why does Israel insist on demanding this from us, and us alone – it did not demand this from the Arabs, from Egypt, from Jordan, or from any Arab country with which it negotiated? Only from us. We know the reason, and we say: "No, we refuse." "

(MEMRI=Middle East Media Research Institute)

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Now Obama gives Bibi one month deadline. European threat to urge UN Security Council vote based on "Obama's speech."

6/13/11, "U.S. pressuring Netanyahu to accept Obama's peace plan," Haaretz, B. Ravid

"On Friday, Steve Simon, who heads the U.S. National Security Council's Middle East desk, told American Jewish leaders that Netanyahu needs to reply within a month to the U.S. proposal for restarting talks. The White House knew this remark would both be conveyed to Netanyahu and leaked to the American and Israeli press, thus making its displeasure public.

But Netanyahu's office insisted it was "unaware of any American pressure or ultimatum."

Yesterday, Netanyahu flew to Italy, where he will meet with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today. The latter has already announced that

• Italy will oppose any unilateral Palestinian move.

On Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will meet with Netanyahu to warn that while Berlin also opposes unilateral statehood, if the diplomatic impasse continues, it will sponsor a UN Security Council resolution, together with Britain and France, that calls on the council to endorse Obama's speech as the basis for talks."

('Obama's speech' also called for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, which the PA refuses to do).

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No mention in Haaretz piece about PA recognition of Jewish state called for in Obama's speech:

To the criminally immune in Europe and the UN: Obama is not "the Americans" and has spent most of his life talking them down. His current title is temporary--he could well be voted out in one year and 5 months. Secondly, what he does is subject to approval of the US Congress and Judiciary. Obama is not a king. Americans don't have monarchies.

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5/23/11, "Obama's 'Jewish state' reference jars Palestinians," AP, J. Federman

"Most difficult for Palestinians is Obama's call to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland, essentially requiring the Palestinians to accept that most refugees will be denied the "right of return" to what is now Israel.

Perhaps for this reason, the Palestinians have remained largely quiet about the substance of Obama's speeches, seemingly content to watch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clash with the U.S. administration over Israel's future borders."...

via Weasel Zippers