Obama phones Palestinian president on peace effort

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pledged in a telephone call on Wednesday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to try to achieve Middle East peace, a Palestinian official said.

"Obama reiterated that he and his administration will work in full partnership with President Abbas to achieve peace in the region," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSLL6...

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Obama's first call abroad to Palestine: Official
New president vows to seek 'durable' Mideast peace in Mahmoud Abbas call

January 21, 2009 11:01 AM


RAMALLAH, West Bank – U.S. President Barack Obama promised to work toward a "durable peace" in the Middle East during a phone call to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said.

Obama called the Palestinian leader a day after taking the oath of office and assured him that he intended "to work with him as partners to establish a durable peace in the region," Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

Obama told Abbas that the president was the first foreign leader he called since taking office, Rudeina said.

"This is my first phone call to a foreign leader and I’m making it only hours after I took office," Rudeina quoted Obama as telling Abbas.

Obama and his secretary of state-designate Hillary Clinton vowed to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict immediately after taking office.

more:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Life/Obama+first+call+abro...


Obama gets down to business

CNN also reported that Obama became engaged almost immediately in the Middle East crisis. He placed phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

more:http://www.vancouversun.com/Business/Obama+gets+down+bu...

[Maat]

1. I am encouraged by this development.

We need a lasting peace.

[bdamomma]

2. diplomacy wins all the time.

may this speak volumes for the Palestinians that we want to talk.

[Jefferson23]

3. Great news, another step in the right direction.

[The Stranger]

4. For eight years, the criminal Bush Junta couldn't make a simple phone call.

And this President can make it on his first day.

What a long, strange trip it's been.

[Scurrilous]

5. What could have been...

McCain advisors: No to Syria talks, little interest in Middle East peace process (Sept. 22, 2008)

"A McCain administration would discourage Israeli-Syrian peace talks and refrain from actively engaging in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

That was the message delivered over the weekend by two McCain advisers—Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Richard Williamson, the Bush administration’s special envoy to Sudan—during a retreat hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy at the Lansdowne Resort in rural Virginia."

<snip>

"In an interview with the Atlantic magazine over the summer, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) insisted that in his presidency he would serve as the chief negotiator in the peace process. But at the retreat, Boot said pursuing an Israeli-Palestinian deal would not be a top priority in a McCain administration, adding that as many as 30 crises across the globe require more urgent attention."

http://www.jewishjournal.com/elections/article/mccain_a... /


Thank God for the Obama presidency.

[bemildred]

6. Seems like a shot across the bow to me.

And a good "chess" move. How can shoring up Abbas be bad? We will see.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. Certainly to Hamas it is

Not one world leader or nation is standing behind Hamas' control of Gaza as being legitimate

[bemildred]

9. To the rejectionists of all sides, it is.

It means Obama intends to "meddle", the Palestinians will be re-unified, the roadmap to peace will be followed, the levers of US power will be used to make that happen.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. You are positive projections are good but its a road oft tried.

Not that I don't want that to happen, its just that our hopes have been dashed too many times. The lessons from the Israel/Egypt relationship is clear. Peace brings prosperity and then the fundies kill the leaders over it.

[bemildred]

16. Yes, I guess I should be pessimistic and give up.

Obama looks like a different breed of cat to me, and he has the most sweeping mandate of any President in my lifetime. Well, maybe Lyndon Johnson. Being a black man in the USA, I doubt he has many illusions about bigots and what they are capable of.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. Not at all, we all should be positive and hopeful

I too hope for the best but given the history will not be surprised if it is not achieved. Way way way too many years of blood and tears. Obama and the US can and should play a positive role, but we are not the primary determinant of what is going to happen. Choosing George Mitchell as his envoy was great,

[bemildred]

22. Well, we disagree, I think we are the primary determinant of what will happen.

At least we have enormous leverage, financial, military, and political. Let's watch and see.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

23. If it were a rationale situation I would agree

WWI started with a single gunman. There are lots of lone gunmen on many sides in the middle east. Still we should all hope, work, and pray for peace.

[bemildred]

28. It is always a rational situation. Being irrational won't serve you well. nt

[The Stranger]

13. According to John Mearsheimer, they were drafting a power sharing agreement.

So what you're saying does make any sense.

[bemildred]

18. Hamas says it doesn't oppose co-op with PNA to redevelop Gaza

I think they will probably settle for a place in the government, politically speaking. That's all they wanted in the first place.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[maddezmom]

7. Obama, Clinton Signal Willingness to Help on Israel-Syria Talks

Obama, Clinton Signal Willingness to Help on Israel-Syria Talks
By Viola Gienger

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration would get involved in Israel-Syria negotiations at the request of the two sides in the talks, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton said, signaling a shift in the U.S. policy of standing aside.

“We should engage directly to help Israel and Syria succeed in their peace efforts, which both parties have indicated could help advance the talks,” Clinton said in written responses to questions from Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. Lugar’s office released the answer today.

Indirect talks between Israel and Syria, brokered by Turkey since at least May, were interrupted when Israel began a military operation against the militant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip last month. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice previously said the U.S. was focusing on the separate Israeli- Palestinian peace effort because it had better prospects.

more:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akC...

[WriteDown]

11. A big "screw you" to Hamas...

Looks like their days are numbered.

[Ghost Dog]

15. Hamas will surely be in the loop, ar least covertly,

don't you think?

[WriteDown]

20. No...

That's why B specifically called Abbas. That's like calling your brother only to ask to speak with his friend to ask him if he wants to get a beer.

[MaraJade]

27. One would hope, but

with the Charter of Hamas specifically disavowing participation in peace talks, getting them
to really be in the loop will be difficult.

Read the Charter here:

http://www.acpr.org.il/resources/hamascharter.html

[Tripmann]

29. If George Mitchell is involved then yes,

Hamas will be in the loop. There can be no peace without them being in the loop. Mitchell knows this from his experience with the Irish peace process.

[NBachers]

12. Get Jimmy Carter involved

[antimatter98]

14. Very good news. Palestine needs its own prosperous state and to have peace. n/t

[Turborama]

17. Obama begins day with moment of solitude, then business

Source: CNN


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama began his first full day in office with a moment of solitude in the Oval Office, reading a note from his predecessor, before making phone calls to Middle East leaders.

Obama arrived in the Oval Office at 8:35 a.m., according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The president spent 10 minutes alone, reading a note left for him in the desk by outgoing President George W. Bush. The note had been placed in an envelope with a note saying: "To: # 44, From: # 43."

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met with the president 10 minutes later to discuss the daily schedule, Gibbs said.

Obama called Middle East leaders, according to a senior administration official, including King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

On Sunday, Israel and Palestinian militants declared a cease-fire after 22 days of fighting in Gaza.

First lady Michelle Obama joined her husband in the Oval Office at 9:10 a.m., shortly before the first couple departed for the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral.......

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/obama.busine...

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[Turborama]

19. This is about Obama's 1st day as president, not just the phone call. N/T

[McCamy Taylor]

24. A bigger blow against Al Qaeda than Bush ever struck.

[RCinBrooklyn]

25. I appreciate the return to diplomacy and the support that Palestinians will get.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

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