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International News
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Sunday, 11 July 2010 02:13 |
Shechem (Nablus)- President Barak Obama praised Mahmoud Abbas' "commitment to peace" on Friday, during a telephone conversation with the Palestinian leader. The President noted "the restraint shown by both sides in recent months" and indicated his pleasure with the "progress" made in the ongoing American brokered proximity talks." The President also told Abbas that American envoy George Mitchell will soon travel to the region in order to "build on this momentum."
President Obama's effusive praise for the Palestinian Prime Minister came three days after Abbas told journalists in Jordan that he was in favor of war with Israel. According to a report in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Abbas stated that he currently favors diplomacy due to the PA's "inability to confront Israel militarily."
'If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it," he told the assembled Arab leadership at the recent Arab League Summit in March. "The West Bank was completely destroyed and we will not agree that it will be destroyed again."
During his visit to Washington in June, Abbas told President Obama that the Palestinian Authority has has "nothing to do with incitement against Israel" and that he seeks only seeks "coexistence."
However, Abbas acknowledged the incitement he had previously disavowed when he told American Jewish leaders that he would act to remove such material from the Palestinian media.
This reporter saw numerous posters praising members of terrorist organizations, including Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, during a press junket to the PA controlled city of Shechem (Nablus) last Thursday.
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