Recovered from FSRN’s earlier site via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Originally published September 22, 2009.
President Obama continues US efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestine. Obama convened a meeting at the UN today between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“We just concluded frank and productive bilateral meetings with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. I want to thank them both for appearing here today. I´m now looking forward to hold the first meeting between the three of us since we took office. As I said during my campaign and at the beginning of my administration the United States is committed to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the middle east that includes a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that results in two states: Israel and Palestine.”
Peace talks were suspended last year when violence broke out in the Gaza strip. The US government has been trying to get both sides back on the table, but disputes over Israeli settlements in the West Bank have prevented formal talks from resuming.
To learn more about the significance of today´s meeting, FSRN contacted Professor Francis Boyle at the University of Illinois. Boyle teaches international law and has written several books on the Palestinian issue. He was a legal advisor for the Palestinian delegation during the 1991 Middle East peace negotiations.
