Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Palestinians to Press UN for Statehood

   VOA News  May 25, 2011
   Palestinian President Abbas arrives to a a meeting of the PLO in
   Ramallah, May 25, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   Palestinian President Abbas arrives to a a meeting of the PLO in
   Ramallah, May 25, 2011

   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeated his plan to seek U.N.
   recognition of Palestinian statehood if there is no progress in peace
   talks with Israel by September.
   Abbas commented in Ramallah on Wednesday, a day after Israel's prime
   minister told U.S. lawmakers he opposed such a move.
   In a speech to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, Prime Minister
   Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel would not go back the borders that
   existed before the 1967 Six Day War.
   He told lawmakers Jerusalem would never be divided and that Israel
   would not negotiate with a Palestinian government that included the
   militant group Hamas.
   U.S. President Barack Obama has said Israel must "make the hard
   choices" necessary to reach a peace agreement. He said they include
   basing the borders of Israel and a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines,
   with mutually agreed land swaps.
   U.S.-mediated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled
   last September. Palestinians have been seeking a future state with East
   Jerusalem as the capital.
   Reuters news quotes Abbas as describing Netanyahu's speech as "nothing
   we can build on."
   Follow our Middle East reports on [1]Twitter
   and discuss them on our [2]Facebook page.

References

   1. http://twitter.com/VOAMiddleEast
   2. http://www.facebook.com/pages/VOAMiddleEastVoices/124360240958667?%20%20%20%20v=wall

.