Officials cite low-expectations while citizens see little change
RAMALLAH – Reaction to US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ramallah on Thursday was mixed, with officials expressing a greater level of satisfaction than did Palestinians on the street. Expectations had been deliberately held in check long before the President landed inside the Palestinian Presidential Headquarters, the Muqata, in Ramallah, where he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials.
Nimr Hammad, a senior adviser to Abbas, explained to The Media Line that while Palestinian leadership didn’t expect much from the visit itself, they were nevertheless under little pressure. “The Americans said they wanted to listen, and we told them everything.”
A large sign picturing Abbas and Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque was hoisted inside the compound where the two leaders marched in front of an honor guard – a gesture the Palestinians found meaningful. “President Obama has officially and practically recognized a Palestinian state,” said Mohammed Shtayyeh, a senior negotiator for the Palestinians told The Media Line. “He received the guards of honor; he did salute the Palestinian flag; he was received with the American and Palestinian national anthems [and] his cars had both the American and Palestinian flags held on them,” he said.
During the presidents’ joint news conference, Abbas said that Palestinian officials had enjoyed good talks with President Obama.
Sources close to Abbas told The Media Line that President Obama told the Palestinian leader during the meeting that he is a convincing man, and that Obama was convinced. Shtayyeh termed the event a “state visit,” but added that Washington still needs more time. “We are in the mood of waiting to see what will come out of the Americans. We explained to them our position and I hope they will come up with something substantial,” Shtayyeh said.
Following the meeting, one Palestinian official told The Media Line that the US administration wants Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to discuss borders and security as a way to stop the Jewish building in the West Bank. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his position that Palestinians will not return to negotiations before a freeze on building on post-1967 land is in effect. Newly-appointed US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to return to the region shortly after the Obama visit for more talks with hopes of developing a specific proposal in May.
President Obama reportedly asked the Palestinians about the future of the Gaza Strip in future peace agreements, to which the Palestinians replied that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza rallied in celebration of the Fatah anniversary in January, calling it an indication that when new elections are held, Hamas will lose control of Gaza.
Prof. Abd-el Majid-Swailem, who teaches political science at Al-Quds University, told The Media Line that the President’s visit might give the peace process a serious push, but took note of what he saw as Obama’s apparent agreement with positions on both sides. “The parameters that Obama describes relative to the Palestinian state are not the same parameters the Israelis think of,” he explained. “Unlike the Israelis, President Obama sees the need for contiguity of land, sovereignty and independence. Where Obama agrees with the Israelis, according to Majid-Swailem, is that they both oppose what they see as Palestinian pre-conditions to returning to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, on the streets of Ramallah, the atmosphere was less optimistic and far from jubilant. Activist Amin Shoman, who was one of the participants at a demonstration near the central Manara square, told The Media Line that, “Releasing the prisoners who were imprisoned before the Oslo agreement was signed should precede any negotiations [with Israel] and not be a result of it.”
Amin Baker charged that the United States has proven to be a part of the aggression against the Palestinian people.
In Al-Bireh, town adjacent to Ramallah, the family of Suzy Rasul was happy that President Obama was passing near their house on his way from a visit to the Al-Bireh Youth Center. Her 9-year-old daughter Layah, wearing her keffiyeh headscarf, was standing in front of the front door of her home waving to the President as his motorcade passed. “I was very happy to see President Obama for the first time, and he waived back at me.”
Nevertheless, Rasul, a director of an American non-governmental agency (NGO), was not impressed by President Obama’s remarks speech at the news conference she watched on Palestinian television. “Watching President Obama speak gave me such mixed emotions. As a Palestinian-American I was proud to have him here. But his speech disappointed me greatly — not only as a Palestinian but as an American. We needed the President to give us a glimpse of hope, to show empathy and to connect to the people of Palestine,” Rasul complained.
Perhaps part of the Rasul family’s disappointment was that although the five family members spent the night before the Obama visit making pro-Palestinian posters, they were not allowed to hoist them. “They preferred no signs or flag-waving during the time of the presidential motorcade, and we agreed,” Rasul explained.