Palestinians hope for Obama change of heart with UN vote
With President Barack Obama in his last months in office, the Palestinians are hoping he will follow up his breakthroughs with Iran and Cuba with a push for their cause as well.
The first step is reintroducing a United Nations Security Council resolution the United States vetoed back in 2011 seeking “accountability” for Israeli West Bank settlement building.
In an interview, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki says the hope is that Obama, freed of reelection concerns, will break with American protocol and refrain from vetoing it this time around.
“There are indications that President Barack Obama may try to put a basis for a new era regarding the Palestinian-Israeli issue before leaving the White House after his achievements in Iran and Cuba,” Malki says. “Thus the US administration may surprise Israel by voting in favor of a Palestinian resolution or at least not to use the veto against it.”
The draft, which Malki says stresses the “violence and terrorism of the settlers,” still needs approval from Arab nations before the Palestinians would consider presenting it. But the move signals a renewed effort to get back on the agenda.
— AP
