Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had his second meeting with American President Barack Obama at the White House – exactly one year after his first – in the wake of the crisis caused by the Israeli Defence Force attack on the Turkish flotilla heading for Gaza with aid.
Mr Abbas was embarrassed by the assault, which happened in international waters while he was engaged in indirect talks with the Israelis, and so was the United States government, which has long been Israel’s major sponsor.
The attack, in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed, provoked worldwide condemnation of the Israeli government and its blockade of Gaza. It has also forced Washington – which lists Hamas as a terrorist organisation – to reconsider its approach to the problems of Gaza and Palestine.
Mr Obama said: “I think what’s important right now is that we break out of the current impasse and use this tragedy as an opportunity to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the current situation in Gaza is “unsustainable” and Vice-President Joe Biden, speaking after talks in Cairo with President Hosni Mubarak, said the US was looking for “new ways to address the humanitarian, economic, security and political aspects of the situation in Gaza”.
Mr Abbas arrived in Washington from Turkey, where he paid his respects to the activists who died, and met the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and President Abdullah Gul, as well as President Bashar Assad of Syria and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
Despite the mass demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara, many Turks are suspicious of the role played by Muslim groups backing Hamas and the flotilla of ships. While there is widespread opposition in Turkey to Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the hardship it has brought in its wake, there is also a suspicion that Mr Erdogan is exploiting the incident to break the country’s relationship with Israel and to shore up his political position at home.
The military, in particular, and many moderate Muslims, fear that Mr Erdogan and his militant religious allies are determined to undermine the secular state created by Kemal Ataturk out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.
Mr Erdogan – who pointed to the Turks shot in the head at close range and said, “The longer we keep silent the bigger the massacre grows” – has even indicated that he will go on the next ship seeking to break the blockade.
