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Holocaust and Israel addressed by Obama
Source: Agencies |
June 6, 2009, Saturday
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UNITED States President Barack Obama toured a World War II concentration camp yesterday after prodding the international community to redouble efforts toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states in hopes of resolving a conflict fueled by the Jewish nation's post-Holocaust creation.
"These sites have not lost their horror with the passage of time," Obama said after seeing crematory ovens, barbed-wire fences and guard towers at Buchenwald.
"More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished." Earlier in Dresden alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the US president pressed for progress toward Middle East peace, saying: "The moment is now for us to act."
He added: "The United States can't force peace upon the parties," but America has "at least created the space, the atmosphere, in which talks can restart."
The president also announced he was dispatching special envoy George J. Mitchell back to the region next week to follow up on his speech in Cairo a day earlier in which he called for both Israelis and Palestinians to make concessions in the standoff.
Fresh from visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Obama said that while regional and worldwide powers must help achieve peace, responsibility ultimately falls to Israelis and Palestinians to reach an accord.
He said Israel must live up to commitments it made under the so-called "Road Map" peace outline to stop constructing settlements, adding: "I recognize the very difficult politics in Israel of getting that done." He also said the Palestinians must control violence-inciting acts and statements, saying that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "has made progress on this issue, but not enough."
Merkel, for her part, promised to cooperate on the long-sought goal. She said the two leaders discussed a time frame for a peace process but did not elaborate.
"These sites have not lost their horror with the passage of time," Obama said after seeing crematory ovens, barbed-wire fences and guard towers at Buchenwald.
"More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished." Earlier in Dresden alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the US president pressed for progress toward Middle East peace, saying: "The moment is now for us to act."
He added: "The United States can't force peace upon the parties," but America has "at least created the space, the atmosphere, in which talks can restart."
The president also announced he was dispatching special envoy George J. Mitchell back to the region next week to follow up on his speech in Cairo a day earlier in which he called for both Israelis and Palestinians to make concessions in the standoff.
Fresh from visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Obama said that while regional and worldwide powers must help achieve peace, responsibility ultimately falls to Israelis and Palestinians to reach an accord.
He said Israel must live up to commitments it made under the so-called "Road Map" peace outline to stop constructing settlements, adding: "I recognize the very difficult politics in Israel of getting that done." He also said the Palestinians must control violence-inciting acts and statements, saying that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "has made progress on this issue, but not enough."
Merkel, for her part, promised to cooperate on the long-sought goal. She said the two leaders discussed a time frame for a peace process but did not elaborate.
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