Peace talks take a familiar turn against Israel

Israeli and Palestinian leaders held their second round of direct peace talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday. US envoy George Mitchell described it as a “serious discussion on core issues” and announced that the drafting of a framework agreement on a final status solution was “well under way.”
But for those thinking that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are going to be different this time around, Tuesday’s summit marked the point where the peace process turned on to the familiar track of making Israel the scapegoat for the lack of peace in the Middle East.
Going into the summit, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly suggested that Israel would be to blame should the current negotiations fail.
“Israel must extend the settlement freeze for the peace talks to succeed,” said Clinton, referring to Israel’s self-imposed 10-month Jewish building freeze in Judea and Samaria, which the Palestinians insist must be extended indefinitely.
Now that Abbas is at the table, a seemingly heroic feat after the past year of diplomatic stagnation, Washington will do anything to keep him there.
According to Israel’s Channel One News, Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Washington on Sunday for a previously unplanned meeting with administration officials. it is fairly easy to surmise that the meeting has been called so that US President Barack Obama can get up close and personal with Netanyahu about putting an end to Jewish settlement and growth on the Jews’ historic and biblical heartland.
Obama continues to see the Jews as occupiers.