Obama: Palestine deserves negotiated state

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Cloud Times • www.sctimes.com NATION/WORLD • Friday, March 22, 2013 • 7A Obama: Palestine deserves negotiated state US president calls on Israel to offer VISIT SPURS help so it also can become secure ROCKET FIRE By Vanessa O'Brien the short distance from There was controversy even and Michele Chabin Jerusalem USA Today the to Ramallah, betore President Barack of Palestinian Obama left Jerusalem on RAMALLAH, West Bank- government.

He was met President Barack Obama by Abbas, Prime Minister Thursday morning for the told Palestinians they "de- Salam Fayyad and Saeb West Bank.

Israel police said militants in Gaza fired two Erekat, the Palestinians' rockets at southern israel. serve an end to occupa- longtime peace negotia- tion" and an "independent The rockets exploded in the state of their own," during a visit Thursday to a terri- It is the first time Oba- city of Sderot. that Palestinians ma has been to the West » One rocket landed next to a house causing damage, but Bank as president, a terri- want as a nation.

Back in Israel, Obama tory conterred limited landed in an open area. said the Jewish state is at state status by the United crossroads and must Nations last November. help create an indepen- But he may have diffi- dent Palestinian state for culty satisfying the de- the secure future of Isra- mands of Palestinian Au- thority leaders who want el.

He said Israel could not him to pressure Israel expect to remain sate without peace because into agreeing to Palestin- ian demands for an inde- "extremists" thrive contlict. pendent state. A Jordanian protester holds a placard that reads "America is the head of terrorism" in Arabic during a protest against U.S.

President Barack Obama's Middle East visit Thursday near the Israeli Embassy in Amman, Jordan. RAAD ADAYLEH/AP "It is not fair that a Pal- Protests estinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own," he told hundreds of Israeli students force will be used if it fails to agree to end its nuclear program.

But Obama said the U.S. will continue to pur- sue talks with Iran, which has thus far rejected all attempts to slow its pro- gram. "Strong and principled diplomacy is the best way to ensure Iran does not ob- tain nuclear weapons," he said. speech.

"Palestinians have a right to be free peo- ple in their own land." After a two-hour visit with Palestinian Author- President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama asserted that the borders for a Pal- estinian state can only be settled through negotia- tions with Israel.

West Bank visit Hoping to move the Middle East peace proc- ess forward, Obama flew by helicopter Thursday In a news conference with Obama on Thursday, Abbas said peace "possible" and was "neces- sary." but he also said it would not be achieved through wars and settle- ments or through vio lence. He said the people of Palestine aspire to their rights.

Obama said "the only way to achieve that was through direct negotia tions between Israelis and Palestinians themselves." He said it was important not to give up on search for peace. the Palestinian protesters complained that Obama has done little to pressure Israel to cave on the is- sues that have led to a stalemate, such as where to draw the borders for the new state and which and signs they held said they want- ed weapons, not diplomat- weapon.

Israel has been asking the United States to tell Iran when military Warning Iran the West Bank, known as In his speech to the Is- raeli university students, Obama also said America PANDORA® UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS made part of Israel prop- Around 150 demonstra- tors chanted anti-Ameri- over its concern that tran obtain nuclear CARPET CLEANING RESTORE AGENCY SERVICE $99

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"Obama: Palestine deserves negotiated state," St. Cloud Times, 22 March 2013. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2013-012. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2013-012