Palestinians are reacting positively to their leader's summit meeting
with the president of the United States in Washington. But Israelis are
skeptical.
Palestinian
officials say they are encouraged by President Barack Obama's meeting
with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas Thursday at the White
House. Mr. Obama called for the creation of a Palestinian state and
condemned Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erekat says the new U.S. administration is taking the
right steps to advance the peace process. "We want any Israeli
government to accept the two-state solution, agreements signed, and
stop settlement activities," he said.
The settlement issue is
raising tension between Israel's new right-wing government and
Washington. Israel says it will not build new settlements, but it
reserves the right to build in existing communities to accommodate
"natural growth."
The United States opposes any construction
in the settlements, and settlers are outraged. Chanie Luz lives in the
West Bank settlement of Bethel near the Palestinian-ruled city of
Ramallah.
"We see it as a racist statement to say that the Jews
can't have children, or that Jews can't build their houses, or the Jews
can't add a room onto their house because they want to have a larger
house," said Luz.
Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu also opposes the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel
pulled out of the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip in 2005, and today it is
controlled by Hamas, a violent Islamic militant group that refuses to
recognize the Jewish state. Hamas has fired thousands of rockets across
the Gaza border at Israeli communities; and Netanyahu fears a
Palestinian state in the West Bank would lead to a similar situation in
Israel's backyard.
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