A high-ranking German government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed next week's talks between American President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington are to dwell on ways to torpedo the Palestinian statehood bid in the UN.
The meeting between Obama and Merkel will focus on likely joint 'tactics and strategies' ahead of a possible UN vote on a Palestinian state, the official said.
'We do not want 'to sit like a rabbit in front of a snake and wait to see what happens but we want to try shape things' on this issue,' he added.
'We want to channel things in our direction. Without a doubt, we are facing deadline pressure as the UN date is approaching,' according to the official.
Political observers believe Berlin could use its massive financial aid program as an instrument to blackmail many third world countries, especially in Africa as well as Central and South America, to force them to say 'no' to a diplomatic recognition of Palestine.
Two die-hard allies of the Zionist regime, Germany and the US have rejected the Palestinian statehood campaign in the UN as over 110 countries, including European Union members France, Britain, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary as well as Brazil, China, India, Russia or South Africa have so far signalled readiness to back a
unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
Merkel whose country is a major donor of the Palestinian Authority (PA), had reportedly tried to arm-twist PA President Mahmoud Abbas to cancel plans for a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood when they met early last month in Berlin.
Addressing a joint news conference with Merkel at the chancellery at that time,
Abbas vowed to push ahead with his initiative to get diplomatic recognition in the United Nations for a Palestinian state.
Realizing there was mounting international support for such a move, Abbas has yet to cave in to intense pressure by the Zionist regime and its biggest western backers, the US and Germany.
The Palestinian leader felt further emboldened by his decision as EU powerhouses, France and Britain, have also expressed tacit support for a unilateral declaration of an independent Palestinian state.
In an interview with the French news weekly L'Express this week, French President Nicholas Sarkozy had suggested his country could recognize a Palestinian state in a vote scheduled to come before the United Nations in September.
| 'If the peace process resumes during the summer France will say you have to leave the protagonists to discuss without upsetting the time-frame,' he told the magazine. 'If, conversely, the peace process remains stalled in September, France will take responsibility on the central question of recognizing a Palestinian state,' Sarkozy said. Critics of the controversial German stance on Palestinian statehood have argued it would be 'neither understable nor justifiable' for Merkel to link a diplomatic recognition of Palestinian state to the outcome of a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian settlement. By doing so, the German leader would ultimately put the fate of Palestinians entirely in the hands of Israelis, they say. Berlin has repeatedly rejected a unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state following intense pressure by the regime in Tel Aviv and its powerful and influential German-based lobby. Speaking at a joint press briefing in Berlin with the prime minister of the Zionist regime, Benjamin Netanyahu on April 7, Merkel was quoted saying 'unilateral recognitions are in no way whatever a help to move towards' a two state-solution. 'This is our stance today and will be in September,' she emphasized. Meanwhile, Mideast analysts point out the Merkel government could also face growing international pressure on the matter of unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state over the coming weeks, if the Zionist regime continues to stall on resolving the row over Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. German officials are also very conscious of the fact that the latest reconciliation agreement between two key Palestinian factions -- Fatah and Hamas -- have further boosted the chance for an independent Palestinian state. Critics of Merkel's Middle East policy say it is basically non-existent as it is guided nearly all the time by what Washington and Tel Aviv dictate.(IRNA) |
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