Obama postpones moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, reiterates call for establishing the Palestinian state

Obama postpones moving the US embassy to Jerusalem

Saturday June 06, 2009 08:46 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agecnies

Israeli sources reported that the US president, Barack Obama, decided on Friday to postpone moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for additional six months.

A Senior official at the White House in DC stated that the official position regarding Jerusalem remains the same, and that the final status of the city would be determined in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

It is worth noting that the United States has a consulate in Jerusalem, but its embassy is in Tel Aviv. In 1995, the US Congress voted to move the embassy to Jerusalem, but the move was never carried out due to political reasons.

The Obama administration is trying to facilitate a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, and called on the Israeli government to halt its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

But recently, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Jerusalem would forever remain the united capital of the Jewish State.

He visited Obama last month and informed him of his government’s decision rejecting any withdrawal from Jerusalem under any peace deal.

East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, therefore UN resolutions, such as resolution 242, calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured by Israel in 1967, also apply to the city.

Netanyahu stated that Obama cannot understand the importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people, and quoted the Israeli National Anthem which states that the city is "The hope of two thousand years, the land of Zion".

In Paris, Sarkozy and Obama press for Palestinian state

Date: 06 / 06 / 2009 Time: 16:22
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

French President Nicholas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama reiterated calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saturday.

Sarkozy reportedly backed Obama's call earlier this week for a settlement freeze in the West Bank following the meeting Paris, and Obama said he wants to see "serious, constructive" peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

"Progress would mean the parties involved ... are in serious, constructive negotiations towards a two state solution," Obama said, according to news reports.

"I do not expect that a 60-year problem is solved overnight, but as I have said before, I do expect both sides to recognize that their fates are tied together," he added.

Obama also vowed to continue his "tough diplomacy" with Iran while Sarkozy noted he was troubled by some of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements.

The French president is the second European leader to back Obama's call for an independent Palestinian state this week, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel voicing support for the two-state solution the day before.

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