Obama grand stands, to make his “Presidency Complete”, with pretense of Palestinian ‘peace talks’

Kerry calls for compromise as Mideast peace talks begin
30 July, 2013 – The Daily Star

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators arrived in Washington Monday to begin the first direct talks in three years, though optimism was in short supply after two decades of failed attempts to reach a deal.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for Palestinians and Israelis to make “reasonable compromises” for peace as he prepared to preside over the negotiations.

“It is no secret this is a difficult process. If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago,” Kerry said with his newly named envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, at his side.

“It is no secret, therefore, that many difficult choices lie ahead for the negotiators and for the leaders as we seek reasonable compromises on tough, complicated, emotional and symbolic issues,” Kerry told reporters.

In a sign of the challenges, the parties differed in public about the agenda for the talks, with an Israeli official saying all issues would be discussed simultaneously and a Palestinian official saying they would start with borders and security.

Private talks were expected to start late Monday with an iftar dinner hosted by Kerry with Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat. …more