US double standards spark West Bank demonstrations

Ramallah: Palestinians in the West Bank held rallies, strikes and demonstrations Thursday against US President’s Barack Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly and his suggestion to his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas that any bid for recognition at the UN would not achieve a Palestinian state and that the US would veto any UN Security Council move for Palestinian statehood recognition.

Obama’s speech and comments deeply disappointed Palestinians who came out in open defiance of the US double standards. Thousands gathered by the grave of former Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat chanting slogans against the US position while voicing support for Abbas and demanding justice.

“Obama’s speech... was a disappointment to those who had been waiting for something new from him, provoking extreme outrage and anger,” wrote Talal Okal in Al Ayyam newspaper.

“It also closed all the doors and windows left open by the Palestinian President to allow some movement.”

Okal accused Obama of “deepening the bias towards Israel’s narrative, positions and policies”.

“He offered more than just a token of bias and love towards the Jews and Israel. What he offered in his speech goes so far as to show compliance with, and full acceptance of, the policies and narrative and desires of Israel,” Okal wrote.

“He put the Jews and Israelis in the position of victims who are surrounded by hatred and wars against them by Arab countries, but this speech of his contained nothing of the suffering of the Palestinians.”

Al Ayyam also satirised Obama’s speech with a cartoon showing him delivering his address with the speech bubble shaped like a Star of David.

Wasel Abu Yousuf, a Member of the executive committee of the PLO, told Gulf News that the US position did not in any way surprise the Palestinians. “Obama’s UN General Assembly speech and comments during Abu Mazen’s [Abbas] meeting came in the context and framework of the US biased position to Israel,” he said.

“The US double standards when it comes to the Palestinian cause and basic and legitimate rights is so clear that we know about it in advance and without any prior US statements.”

Commenting on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposed plan, Abu Yousuf said that the plan is a half-way compromise.

French plan questioned

“France is trying to unify Europe on a specific position to secure European voting at the UN General Assembly,” he said. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Sarkozy proposed a roadmap for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians within one year.

According to Sarkozy, Palestine would be granted an upgrade to its current status from permanent observer to observer state.

Dr Mustafa Al Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative said: “Obama usually addresses the rights of the nation to live free and with dignity and the human rights that should be observed, but retreats when it comes to the Palestinians.”

Obama’s position totally contradicts the world body’s stand on Palestine, Al Barghouti said stressing on the lack of applause for Obama right through his UN address.

“Obama’s speech and comments have proved yet another time that the US mediation in the peace negotiations will surely lead to a deadlock,” Hani Al Masri, a political analyst told Gulf News. He said Abbas and the Palestinian leadership seemed convinced about the lack of seriousness on peace talks. “That was the reason for the leadership to seek UN statehood recognition,” he said.