Haaretz, Monday. Of all the American politicos on hand, only Howard Berman seems to have caught a clue, big trouble lies ahead. (h/t Bruce Wolman):
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday that the declaration of a Palestinian state would be a mere formality once the institutions of a Palestinian state are created.
Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah organized by the Saban Forum,
Fayyad said it is important to create institutions that are functioning, committed to the Palestinian people and free of corruption.…Fayyad spoke at a news conference with U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who praised Fayyad’s efforts to develop the economy. The press conference was held at the end of a discussion Fayyad held with 80 guests as part of the Saban Forum, organized by Israeli-American media tycoon Haim Saban. Some 40 guests arrived in Ramallah from the United States, including three U.S. senators and five congressmen. …
U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman said of the visiting members of Congress that to a certain extent they arrived as investors, and are going to carry back to Washington their our own positive reports about how the money of the U.S. Congress has been spent. …
Howard Berman, a Democratic congressman from California, said the American visitors agree with U.S. President Barack Obama’s comments in his Cairo speech, in which he said the U.S.-Israel bond is unbreakable. But he said that feeling in no way precludes the strong commitment to the idea of Palestinian statehood and to the end to the occupation.
