Palestinians Look to Alternatives Rather than Kerry’s Plan

The Palestinian Authority is set to resume its efforts to obtain memberships in United Nations organizations, a strategy it shelved temporarily as a good-will gesture in support of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace efforts. The Associated Press is reporting that consistent with the PA’s statement at the time, the PA is now planning to resume its efforts with UN agencies because it believes Kerry is getting nowhere. The Palestinians viewed June 7 as the date by which there was to have been discernable progress, Team Kerry denies that the date was ever set as a firm deadline. As June 7 draws near, significant achievement on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track is unlikely although Kerry is due to arrive in the region on Thursday for his fourth stab at nudging the parties back to the table after an absence of more than four years. According to the AP, the Palestinians complain that while Kerry is focusing on economic development for the PA as a key element of his plan, progress on the political front is equally important. But Israel rejects Palestinian preconditions to resuming peace talks arguing that all issues should be properly dealt with at the negotiating table while the Palestinians counter that what Israel calls preconditions are “obligations.”