Mustafa Barghouti: US-Palestinian ties strong
In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Palestinian Minister Mustafa Barghouti says that the US commitment to the Palestinian Authority's survival will withstand the Palestinian initiative of seeking UN recognition.
For many years, US secretaries of state have been involved up to their necks in attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and expeditions to the Middle East were routine. All their attempts were met with great disappointment. Ever since the collapse of the latest peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in April 2014, when the Washington-Jerusalem relationship is at its lowest point, new winds are blowing in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
In the past and generally behind closed doors, the Palestinians tended to fault the United States for being an unfair broker with a historic tendency to favor its ally, Israel. But in recent months, the United States has been going to great lengths to strengthen the PA in general through financial support, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in particular with public declarations. It acts out of the unreasonable assumption that the lack of a diplomatic horizon might bring the collapse of the PA. Or if not, it might at least bring about the emergence of extremist elements, which would sound the death knell of the ''US vision'' to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
