Abbas meets with Obama today, but does it matter?
Last week's meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama was a circus. Surrounded by intense media scrutiny and intrigue, the meeting was preceded and followed by endless speculation and analysis. Today's meeting with Mahmoud Abbas? Not so much.
The face to face is scheduled for later this afternoon, and so far the discussion leading up to it has focused on whether Abbas is even still relevant. Tony Karon asks this question over at Time.com, pointing out that "his political authority over his own people is so limited that he is unable to effectively negotiate on their behalf." Howard Schneider made a similar point for the Washington Post in his article "Abbas's Credibility Problem."
Schneider begins,
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas heads a fractured government and a fractured political party. His term expired four months ago. His handpicked prime minister, trusted to manage billions of dollars in foreign aid, is reviled by some Palestinians as a U.S. proxy.
Not promising. One sign of Abbas's credibility program can be seen over at Kabobfest.
Undoubtedly both Obama and Abbas will be united behind the demand that Israel stops settlement construction, a demand that Israel so far has rejected. Perhaps the most useful news that could come out of today's meeting are signs that the US would actually support real elections where Palestinians can choose their own leadership.
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Read Mondoweiss here.
RE: "Last week's meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama was a circus."
FROM URI AVNERY: "Obama sat in the Oval Office side by side with Binyamin Netanyahu and spoke to the journalists. He was earnest, but relaxed. The body language spoke clearly: while Netanyahu leaned forward assiduously, like a traveling salesman peddling his merchandise, Obama leaned back, tranquil and self-assured."
SOURCE - http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery05252009.html
May 29, 2009 1:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link to Avnery's excellent analysis. I had missed Netanyahu's reference to his complete agreement with Obama on the need to curb Iran's "military" nuclear capability.
As Avnery notes, Israel has up until now demanded that Iran stop all uranium enrichment.
So Bibi appears to be conceding that a U.S. deal with Iran will allow that country to enrich to levels below weapons-grade. Which I'm pretty sure Iran will trade for restored relations with the United States.
If that's how it works out, the world will have dodged a very big bullet.
May 30, 2009 2:15 AM | Reply | Permalink