Monthly Archives: September 2011

[Wasn’t Dennis Ross one of the team of persuaders, rather than Dennis Blair (not to be confused with Tony Blair?]

The Hale-Blair [if so, this would be Hale-Ross] effort was a failure from the start. The two envoys returned to the region two times, knowing full well that Netanyahu would not budge from his rejection of two Palestinian preconditions for talks: Stop building settlements and start negotiations along the 1967 Green Line border, both positions advocated in previous statements by President Obama.

In his Friday, September 16, televised address from Ramallah, President Abbas ended speculation that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (both of which he heads) might yield to US-Israeli pressure and go directly to the General Assembly, by passing [should this be “bypassing”?] the Security Council where the Obama veto was waiting. That will not happen. Abbas is going for broke. He will present his request to the UN Security Council, fully aware that the US will veto the request.

This means that the two most recent Hale-Ross [Yes!] missions have failed, “forcing” President Obama to cast his Israel-lobby dictated, pro-Israel veto, [This comma should be a period.] It will not be the first veto President Obama has ordered to reject policies which Obama was on record supporting. The first Obama pro-Israel veto came February 18, blocking a resolution that condemned “Israeli settlements as an illegal obstacle to peace”.
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