i know that Abbas is desperate to be seen to be doing something and that there are still many unresolved issues; gaza, jeruselum, settlers etc etc
but what actual benefit will America get out of vetoing their bid at the UN, other than glavanising the arab world against them?
There is a very pro Israel lobby and media in America, American political support for Israel seems to be more about domestic voting than the actual problems in the middle east.
I foresee another week of hand-wringing and talking.
Meanwhile in Israel, walls will be built, Palestinian homes will be bulldozed, armed settlers will move in and build homes under the protection of the IDF while we look on frustrated and powerless.
It's a shit situation. The pro-Zionist lobby in Washington is far too powerful. And there are arms to be sold.
youd think abbas could be a bit more passionate!
yes apparently only joint dialogue will work and in the last 20 years it has done so well, settlements continue , the country gets partitions and walled up, embargos continue and israel ignores the entire world community whilst the US of A has it back
Despicable state of affairs
And there are arms to be sold.
That about sums it up!!! 
Obama now has the chance to really earn that Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded, but just like other post-war US Presidents he will bow to the Pro-Israel lobby in the US in order to win re-election.
Obama cares more about his future than the future of the Middle East and potentially, the future of American citizens who will come under attack for this action.
And our glorious leader will bend the knee to US pressure whilst that cretin Blair runs around annoying everyone.
And there are arms to be sold.That's is the odd thing about it, the US supplies the money to buy them also, mind you when you think about it that is a clever way for arms traders to rob money of the US tax payer, maybe not so odd.
talk is cheap, as long as Israel recieves 'miltary aid' obama or any president can say what they like, actions speak louder than words...
Obama cares more about his future than the future of the Middle East
Spot on. Come back in another year or two - if he is still in power he'll be a dead duck at home, and looking to the international stage for A Legacy.
I'm not on top of the papers, but the putative Palestinian state, if it is to be remotely viable, is under substantial military occupation by a key US ally for reasons which are not wholly insane. The USA cannot do anything other than veto statehood in the UNSC without completely re-thinking their relationship with Israel.
US jews are not generally single-issue voters, but they have a long history of voting democrat and do not like this issue at all. At this point in the electoral cycle there is no way Obama is going to jettison the support of a well-organised political constituency like that.
It will take a hardline Republican president to approve Palestinian statehood, on a Nixon/China model. We are quite a few years off that being in prospect.
Middle east is real six of one half dozen of other. We won't resolve their differences here on stw.
But it's fair to say that if a negotiated settlement was agreed in the middle-east, Hamas will be ousted from Gaza and a different group of militants would restart firing rockets into Israel and blowing up school buses. The Israelis will then start demolishing houses where the rockets and suicide bombers come from again. A nice mix of innocent and not innocent "civilians" on both sides will end up on the TV covered in blood.
The basic role of any government is to secure its people. UN Resolution 242 can be summarised as 'land for peace'. If Fatah/Hamas cannot guarantee peace I cannot see the Israeli's giving up land.
Of course Palestine should have statehood and the US and UK should be ashamed of themselves for falling for the old Israeli lines. Israel is THE terror state in the world, not Iraq, Afghanistan, N Korea or Iran. How someone as decent as Obama can fall for it is so depressing. Israel is the nastiest, meanest country on the planet, or at least alot of its inhabitants are.
Palestinian statehood?
I support their aspiration.
It has to start somewhere, each wave is a step closer but as said already we don't have the right political ingredients yet. I bet if it does happen there will be some part of the agreement which acts as a false freedom, resulting in a retaliation at the offence.
I don't think people will magically start being nice to one other, but I wish they could realise the pointlessness of an infinite grudge.
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