Obama arrives for 'listening tour'

After an effusive welcome in Israel, US President Barack Obama traveled to the occupied West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian leaders, who accuse him of sidelining their dream of statehood.

Obama flew by helicopter to the Palestinian government headquarters in Ramallah, where disillusioned Palestinians held out little hope that their moment in the US presidential spotlight would help revive a long-dormant peace process.

A smiling Obama, accompanied by Abbas, was met by mostly stern-faced Palestinian officials along a red carpet - a stark contrast to the broad grins and backslapping during an elaborate welcoming ceremony on Wednesday at Tel Aviv airport. Obama has made clear he is not bringing any new peace initiatives but instead has come to Israel and the Palestinian territories on a "listening" tour.

As a reminder of the ever-present risks, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets into Sderot, a southern Israeli town that Obama visited as a presidential candidate in 2008. Police said no one was hurt.

There were no claims of responsibility, and Obama is not going to visit Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, a rival to the Western-backed Abbas, who condemned the attack. Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and toured the Israel Museum, viewing the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls - underscoring the Jewish link to the Holy Land - and a high-tech exhibit.

The main focus of his initial discussions with Netanyahu appeared to be pressing regional concerns, primarily Iran's nuclear ambitions and the civil war in neighboring Syria, and winning the hearts of a sceptical Israeli public.

After Obama's repeated run-ins with Netanyahu during his first term in office, the mood between the two men appeared to be much warmer, angering Palestinians, who blame the 2010 collapse of US-backed peace negotiations on the Israeli leader's expansion of Jewish settlements on land where they want their state.

Obama and Abbas had a closed-door meeting and were later joined by officials before a news conference. Abbas aides said one expected topic of the meeting was the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, in which Abbas would underscore that Israel has to stop building Jewish settlements on the West Bank and recognize the two-state solution.

Reuters-Xinhua

(China Daily 03/22/2013 page12)