Palestinian Memo: Hopes In Obama "Evaporated" After "Zionist Lobby" Pressure

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian president's political party says all hopes in the Obama administration have "evaporated," accusing the White House of caving in to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and backing off a demand to freeze Jewish settlement.

Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party also accused the U.S. of failing to set a clear agenda for a new round of Mideast peace talks, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"All hopes placed in the new U.S. administration and President Obama have evaporated," the document said. Obama "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby, which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace."

The Palestinians initially greeted Obama's election with enthusiasm, welcoming his outreach to the Muslim world and hoping he would depart from what they viewed as the pro-Israel bias of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama raised Palestinian hopes further with his repeated calls for Israel to halt all construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem – areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.

But in recent weeks, the U.S. appears to have softened its stance on settlements. Washington says it has not abandoned the objective of halting settlement construction, but U.S. officials have indicated they do not see this as a condition for resuming talks.

The memo comes at a time of turmoil within Fatah after Abbas quickly reversed a decision to suspend efforts to bring Israel before a U.N. war crimes tribunal in connection with the Gaza war.

The document, dated Oct. 12, was issued by Fatah's Office of Mobilization and Organization. The office is headed by the party's No. 2, Mohammed Ghneim.

It was not immediately clear whether the document reflects Abbas' views or whether it was leaked to pressure Obama to bear down harder on Israel. Abbas' aides had no comment and Ghneim could not immediately be reached for comment.

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The U.S. Embassy in Israel did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The document reiterated Fatah's demand for Israel to freeze settlement construction and agree to a clear agenda for peace talks before negotiations can resume.

The Palestinians want talks to resume from the point they broke down last year under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert. Netanyahu says he is not bound by any concessions Olmert may have made.

Obama personally intervened last month, when he summoned Abbas and Netanyahu to a three-way meeting in New York. But he failed to break the impasse.

The document echoes sentiments expressed by other Fatah officials. On Sunday, former Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan said the party "feels very disappointed and worried by the U.S. administration retreat."

The last round of Israel-Palestinian negotiations broke down late last year with no breakthroughs on the main issues dividing the two sides: final borders, the status of disputed Jerusalem and a solution for Palestinians who lost homes and other property in Israel after it achieved statehood in 1948.

The dispute over ongoing settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem has blocked all efforts to get the sides to talk, let alone solve the intractable conflict.

Netanyahu says some settlement construction must continue to accommodate growth of existing settler populations. He also says all of Jerusalem will remain in Israeli hands, although Israel's annexation of the eastern part of the city and its sensitive holy sites has never been internationally recognized.

The Fatah memo comes at a time when Abbas is under relentless criticism from the rival Hamas group, which rules Gaza. They accused him of betraying the Palestinian cause by suspending efforts to bring Israel before a U.N. war crimes tribunal over the winter offensive on Gaza. Abbas has since reversed himself, and the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, which commissioned the report, is expected to debate the findings on Thursday.

Firing back at his critics Tuesday, Abbas said the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has become an "emirate of darkness." He also accused Hamas fighters of fleeing during the fighting while they "left their people to be killed in Gaza."

Tuesday's speech was Abbas' harshest so far on his Hamas rivals.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called Abbas' speech "base and misguided."

Relations between Abbas's Fatah government in the West Bank and Hamas collapsed when Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. The latest spat has dealt a new blow to reconciliation efforts between the factions.

Comments

[S1m0n]

Why's anyone taking Abbas' calls? He represents an unelected rump of the Palestinian[ polity, clinging to power in a fraction of the territory at the behest of the Israeli and American governments, and with their assistance.

As the Geneva conventions declare, a puppet administration can't make binding international treaties. This means that there's no point in talking to Abbas, unless you're talking for the sake of talking, or to generate the illusion of activity as a figleaf concealing inaction.

[Freenation]

obama is the best hope palestinians will ever had or will have...it is ironic that president of free world is humbled by the deluge of lobbyists who have one goal: no peace

[Thabit]

If Obama cant get tough on settlement building with Netanyahu and Israel then he disproves one of the main points of his campaign last year. "There is nothing false about hope" In the history of the contracts with the Palestinians time after time they relive over again our history with the Native American Peoples,there is no treaty we wont break . As long as Israel is actively stealing Palestinian land why would they believe israel would honor any agreement in a peace negotiation Israel is the occupier and agressor , untill they stop settlement building and pull their people off of palestinian lands the Palestinians have no reason to talk

[StCuthbert]

"Israel is actively stealing Palestinian land"

Israel is *not* stealing Palestinian land.

Israel has honored its peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, that's its history. What peace treaties have the Palestinians abided by? Hamas couldn't even keep the cease-fire going longer than a day!

[mamacat]

Obama's way of doing things is to take the long road, not the easy path; we have seen this repeatedly in both his domestic agenda and in his foreign affairs. That he has not solved the consequences of more than a century of Zionist expansionism by waving a magic wand does not mean the he, Hillary, and the U.S. are not interested in solving the problem.

[vascopyjama]

To be honest, the Palestinians hope in Obama should have evaporated the day he prayed at the wailing wall. And if they had any doubts at all after that, Hillary Clinton's comments during the campaign should have convinced them. Next Susan Rice will veto anything about Israel that is even brought up at the UN.

[TheLonelyGod]

To be honest, this says more about the Palestinians than it does about Obama.

If you look at the history, the Palestinians have been repeating this pattern for quite a while.

They ask the US president to force Israel to give then 100% of what they want.
The US president can't do that, obviously, so he asks the Palestinians to settle for less (exactly how much less has varied).
The Palestinians say no, dismiss the president as a "Zionist puppet" and then proceed to wait for the next administration, in the hopes that *this* president will be the one to force Israel to give them anything.

And thus the cycle has repeated forever. It will only change when Israel collapses or when the Palestinians stop being so stubborn. Neither is altogether likely.

[Garioch]

It follows a pattern all right but the pattern is a consistent one of moving Israeli goalposts before they'll even begin negotiations, refusal to negotiate with certain parties, refusal to abide by their responsibilities, refusal to give up settlements and refusal to even approach the idea of giving the Palestinians the rights they demand for themselves.

[PWM]

Exactly. The problem is the state of Israel, not the people they keep in poverty under an iron boot.

[jwcmass]

Well, thank God that Netanyahu isn't stubbborn. thank God he's so flexible and reasonable on the issue of freezing the settlements.

If you think the Palestinians are the only stubborn party here, then you are living in a different universe than I am.

[StCuthbert]

He is flexible, he was willing to freeze the construction of all new settlements. That sounds flexible to me, but Abbas was unwilling to even accept that compromise.

[Bigidea]

Evolution of ''YES WE CAN'' in stages

Yes we can
Perhaps we can
May be we can
We think we can
We almost can
We nearly can
We dream we can
Oh Sh*t We Can 't

I was there for the first three stages. What a shame.

[eileenflemingWAWA]

The lax enforcement of The Logan Act, The Foreign Agents Registration Act/FARA, the 1917 Espionage Act, Thompson Memorandum guidelines for prosecuting corporate crime coupled with the fear of being labeled anti-Semitic and a media who have failed at their commission to seek and report the truth have all colluded to exert an undue influence over the USA Govt. and thus; we the people of America to be "under the de facto influence of a powerful foreign interest."

Every American politician is aware of Israel's clandestine nuclear weapons development, stockpile, and launch capabilities, but due to the influence of AIPAC "it is business as usual in Washington: criminal wrongdoing continues to corrupt America's core values, rule of law, and Middle East policy, as the Israel lobby's cross-hairs shift almost completely to Iran.

Many Americans see Israel as an ally and Iran and Syria as our mutual enemies. The "war on terror" has become a tactic to infuse fear while it ignores that much of the anger in the Arab world is in response to Israel's 40+ years of military occupation of Palestine and the concrete wall and electrified fence built on legally owned Palestinian property which is "financed with U.S. aid at a cost of $1.5 million per mile. The Israeli wall prevents residents from receiving health care and emergency medical services..."

Excerpted October 13, 2009: http://www.wearewideawake.org/

"JFK, Bobby, Fulbright and Foreign Agents"

[JohnnyLee]

The wall also prevented suicide bombings in central Israel - a little inconvenient fact you avoided. Kind of like the Hamas rockets? Don't believe it stopped suicide bombings? Don't listen to me, listen to the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_West_Bank_barrier#Effects_on_Israeli_security

Who built the fence? Palestinian workers. One of many reasons why the economy in the West Bank has been growing at @5%. Some Apartheid!

[TAIsabel]

Well....what is there to say that we have not said a thousand times over this subject on this blog...The more things change, the more they stay the same. Israel holds our foreign policy "purse and puppet " strings.

It is exhausting to discuss a now futile theme. The Israelis will NEVER allow the Palestinians to have a decent life. They will push the Palestinians out to sea and into the desert before they give back one inch of the Israeli ill gotten land.

I, for one, have had enough of this crap!

[WBMD]

The theme is indeed exhausting and futile, but not for the reason you describe. The Palestinians can have "a decent life" tomorrow, if they give up their hopeless goal of destroying the Jewish state. And the many bloggers, like LBSaltzman, Thelonius, alysheba, etc., who clearly support this goal as well, do their clients a disservice in encouraging them to seek an unreachable and immoral solution.

For those who hope to see an end to the Jewish state and the Jewish people, it will not happen; or if it does,, the price the world will have to pay will be nearly unbearable.

For those who truly seek an equitable solution, new and realistic ideas that incorporate a secure Jewish state, and a viable, non-aggressive Palestinian state would surely be welcome.

[Garioch]

Why is it that the Israeli state is allowed to be as aggressive as it likes but a Palestinian state must be non aggressive and neutered? In what manner is the two states being held to totally different rights in any manner "equitable"?

[WorkingClass]

The United States is broke but it is still acting like an imperial power. When the American legions have been withdrawn from the middle east, Israel will be on its own. What happens then will not be our concern.

[jollyelle]

this is so crushing, such hope and then nuth'in

[lbsaltzman]

There must be a strong effort to break the stranglehold that the pro-Israeli lobby has on American foreign policy. President Obama has good instincts but too many battles to fight. It is up to the rest of us to pressure Congress until it is safe for them and the President to stand up to the lobby.

[Palemoon]

The only way there will ever be any kind of just and fair solution, as well as a lasting peace, is for we, the United States, to be firm and fair with both sides. Neither side needs to be shown favoritism and both sides should be scolded everytime they back away from proposals.

Fairness and accountability, without any influence from either side, is the only thing that is ever going to work. I shouldn't have to be the one to explain that to our government and our diplomats, that is the sad part.

[mommamia526]

The Nobel Prize Committee has explained why they elected Mr. Obama. There is/was also an article by Mr. Bernard Henry Levy on Huffingtonpost. I also recommend reading www.theisraelproject.org, 10/13/09, that is TODAY! Then - if I may - please explain the positive actions by either the PLO or Hamas! Hamas is still shooting off projectiles into Israel. Moreover, another crowd of Palestinians in Lebanon are apparently itching to start something again too. It is reported that it is a *powderkeg, ready to explode*. That, exploding, appears to be their daily occupation. It does not appear to be beneficial to the Palestinians. It gets them nowhere. Oh, and before I forget, I also read somewhere today the PLO's REAL REASONS behind their positions, which are changing like the weather, on the Goldberg Report. It is all about power. Abbas' power. Let me see of all the things I read today, where was that? I think it might have been on www.arutz7.com, or on Huffpost, but it referred to an article elsewhere.

[Thabit]

There is no such thing as a war crime when an occupier is starving and murdering your people and no reason to talk when he si still building on your land and walling you into ghettos

[Dailykook]

Iran's proxy war with Israel heats up. Hezbollah and Hamas to the foreign aid money dancer Palestinians are delaying and using aid money as they prepare to fight another war with Israel. But lefty's cry poor Palestinians and that evil zionist lobby faster than Mahmoud can get a media interview.

[Thelonius]

Apart from anger when they witness President Obama being orderd about by PM Netanyahu and the pro-Israel lobby, informed Americans should bear in mind the following:

(1) http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/1129/dailyUpdate.html
Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 29/04.
By Tom Regan
"The US Defense Department has confirmed the contents of a report by the Pentagon's Defense Science Board that is highly critical of the administration's efforts in the war on terror and in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.... The report's conclusions: 'Muslims do not hate our freedom, but rather they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, ....' "

(2) The U.S. Senate 9/11 Commission declares in its report that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the "mastermind of the 9/11 attacks" and concludes that his "animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S.foreign policy favoring Israel."

[WBMD]

And the Muslim terrorist attacks in the Phillipimes, Indonesia, Thailand, all are due to the same problem. The Sia massacring the Sunnis and vice versa as well. Damn those Israelis - they are everywhere.

[Thelonius]

What an inane response. To state the obvious, I was referring exclusively to 9/11. Perhaps you should direct your response to the US Defence Department , the Pentagon and the members of the Senate 9/11 Commission

[FrozenNorthObserver]

O has shown himself as weak and ineffective a leader as they come, whether the issue is financial reform, heathcare reform, human rights for gays, prosecution of Bu*shCo crim*inals and a miriad of other issues.

[HappyRabbit]

Could not agree more! On domestic policy he has been very ineffective. Foreign policy has been a little better, but as always, who's ox was gored?

[mommamia526]

Oh, well, not up to date? Read the listing by Bernard Henry Levy, or consider the passing of the first stage of the healthcare bill today. But, you are excused, if you are on ice, well, then....:).