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U.S. Fails to Convince the Palestinians, and Offers a Rebuke to Israel

(Huffington Post) Richard Grenell - U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice announced to the UN's Arab group that she will support their statement condemning Israel for its settlement construction after failing to convince the group to support her language. Rice previously offered the Arab group a plethora of U.S. government compromises in exchange for different language - language they rejected outright. The incentives Rice offered included a harsh condemnation of Israeli settlements in a future statement from the Mideast Quartet negotiators and an official UN-organized tour of the Middle East. But as foreign policy experts hail the region's recent democracy movement, Rice is at the UN agreeing to condemn the Middle East's strongest democratic government. Arab leaders have spent considerable capital trying to convince their publics and Americans that Israeli settlements and Palestinian border issues are the highest priority. But the recent tumult in Tunisia and Egypt have proven that Arab youth, like their counterparts in America and elsewhere, want, first and foremost, economic and political freedom. Washington must stand solidly with the strongest democracy in the region, Israel, and make clear that economic freedom, individual human rights and security are our priority goals. The writer is a former U.S. Spokesman at the UN.
2011-02-18 00:00:00
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