Palestinians disappointed by Obama's UN speech

[Jefferson23]

PLO Secretary-General, members of PLO delegation in Washington say U.S. president's speech was 'double standard' when he praised the Arab Spring but did not express support for Palestinian state.

By Reuters and Natasha Mozgovaya

A senior Palestinian official voiced disappointment at U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, saying he had hoped for an expression of support for Palestinian freedom.

Obama urged Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch direct peace talks as he made a last-ditch attempt to avert a UN crisis over Palestinian statehood and pull his Middle East policy back from the brink of diplomatic disaster.

He also touched on the "Arab Spring" uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East, remarking how "change had come to Egypt and to the Arab World."

Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), told Reuters there was "a gap between praising the struggle of Arab peoples for the sake of freedom and between an abstract call for negotiations between us and the Israelis."

remainder: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinians-disappointed-by-obama-s-un-speech-1.385871