'Obama speech in Cairo a good start,' Palestinian Authority says

[Jackeens]

U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world on Thursday was a "good start" towards a new U.S. policy in the Middle East, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.

"His call for stopping settlement and for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and his reference to the suffering of Palestinians ... is a clear message to Israel that a just peace is built on the foundations of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," said the spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

"President Obama's speech is a good start and an important step towards a new American policy," he said. Mahmoud Ramahi, a legislator from Abbas rival Hamas, offered qualified praise for the speech.

"I have followed the speech closely. There are many positive points," he said. "There is a difference between his policy and Bush's policy. I see a change in the U.S. foreign policy discourse. But the problem is still on the ground. Would they achieve a Palestinian independent state? If he does that, that would be a relief and good for all parties."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090405.html

[bdamomma]

1. the whole Palestinian -Israeli situation must find a common ground.

I have my fingers crossed.