‘US shouldn’t be part of talks over Palestine’s statehood’

RT

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Published: 24 September, 2011, 07:13
Edited: 24 September, 2011, 11:23

Mahmud Abbas and Barack Obama (AFP Photo / Mandel Ngan)

Lisa Albrecht, associate professor at the University of Minnesota with extensive experience of working with both Palestinian and Jewish grass-roots activists, says the USA is not neutral and hence should not decide Palestine’s future.
­“We have the President of the United States, who last year said he supported Palestinian statehood, and this year said he didn’t. So, right now I believe he’s pandering for the Jewish vote in the United States, because the Republican Party is standing up and trying to get that vote,” she told RT.
“The US doesn’t come into this on an even playing field. We give away more aid to Israel – and it includes military aid – and we hardly give anything to Palestine. So, I think the US shouldn’t be a part of these conversations, because they’ve been unsuccessful all these years, because we were not neutral in the process,” she continued.
According to Lisa Albrecht, numerous influential groups in the United States support the state of Israel and they will not tolerate its interests being put in jeopardy.
“People always talk about AIPAC and the Jewish lobby, but folks have to know that there’s also a huge Christian Zionist lobby in the United States,” she said. “Presidents Bush Senior and Bush Junior are both Christian Zionists, and they very much want to see Israel remain. When Netanyahu comes to the United States, before he meets with people like Obama and the government, he meets with Christian Zionists who do a tremendous amount of funding of Israel.”