TOP PALESTINIAN OFFICIAL SLAMS OBAMA’S SPEECH FOR IGNORING PALESTINE ISSUE

New York, 15 Dzulhijjah 1436/29 September 2015 (MINA) – Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat expressed great disappointment in U.S. President Barack Obama for completely ignoring the Palestinian issue during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday.

“Does President Obama think that he can fight terror and defeat ISIS and achieve peace and stability in the Middle East by continually ignoring the occupation and Israeli settlements in the West Bank and continued aggression against the al-Aqsa Mosque?” asked Erekat, the secretary general of the PLO executive committee, on Monday, Haaretz quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Palestinians previously voiced their disappointment with the American position after a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late Saturday night.

According to senior Palestinian officials, Kerry did not present a new plan, and the cumulative impression among participants was that the American government does not intend to initiate any significant process regarding the Palestinian issue and has no intention to pressure Israel.

Still, Kerry did not rule out the possibility of an international effort or of letting other countries, particularly Europe, step in, according to a senior Palestinian official.

In this regard, the Palestinians still hope to achieve what they have been steering toward since the failure of the last round of peace talks, which is internationalizing the Palestinian issue such that the United States will not be the exclusive sponsor of every future diplomatic process. (T/P4/RO7)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) utm_source=Facebook