Peace process prospects seem to be getting grimmer, as an internal memo of Fatah -- the favored Palestinian leadership -- leaks to the AP:
An internal document circulated among members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' political party says all hopes placed in the Obama administration "have evaporated" because of alleged White House backtracking on key issues to the Palestinians.
The Fatah Party memorandum, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, accuses the United States of backing off from its demands that Israel freeze settlement construction and failing to set a clear agenda for new Mideast peace talks.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the Oct. 12 document reflected Abbas' views or was intended to be leaked as Fatah's attempt to pressure President Barack Obama to bear down harder on Israel.
The document said the Palestinians have lost hope in Obama and accused the American leader of caving in to pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington.
"All hopes placed in the new U.S. administration and President Obama have evaporated," said the document issued by Fatah's Office of Mobilization and Organization. The department is headed Fatah's No. 2, Mohammed Ghneim.
Obama, it claimed, "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby, which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace."
The memo seems to strengthen the argument that opening with a strong public stand on settlements -- voiced most firmly by Clinton -- was a tactical American mistake, hardening the Palestinian line even as Mitchell negotiated a compromise with the Israelis.
Related: What's the Point
This is what Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said at last Friday’s prayer meeting in Tehran about the Geneva talks between Iran and the UN Security council big five plus Germany:
‘The meeting was a great victory for the Islamic Republic of Iran to such an extent that even the Western and Zionist media had to admit defeat....Prior to the talks, they (Westerners) used to speak of suspension and sanctions against Iran, but after the talks, there has not been any word of suspension or sanctions, rather, Iran's package of proposals was the axis.’
Ayatollah Khatami is correct. As a result of this grovelling, America and the west are now so weakened that the Ayatollah also felt emboldened to threaten Israel once again with extinction, this time with a ‘third intifada’ over the spurious claim that Israel has attacked the al Aqsa mosque (an incitement which so far has failed to ignite the Palestinians) -- even as Iran moves serenely onwards towards finally checkmating America with its nuclear weapon.
This is the outcome of Obama’s hand of friendship. This is why Obama received the Nobel Appeasement Prize.
Related: Supreme Iranian Leader Mocks America
Oops.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that the threat of sanctions against Iran would be counterproductive, resisting US efforts to win agreement for measures if Iran fails to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.
Lavrov spoke following talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is trying to gauge Moscow's willingness to join the US in imposing sanctions if Iran fails to come clean on its nuclear activities.
Lavrov said Russia's position is that under current conditions even the threat of sanctions against Iran would be counterproductive.
Clinton said the US agreed it was important to pursue diplomacy with Iran.
"At the same time ... we have always looked at the potential of sanctions in the event we are not successful" in persuading Iran to comply, she said at a joint news conference.
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