Palestine rebukes Obama’s statement

The Palestinian government in Gaza has hit out at a speech delivered by the US President Barack Obama on his opening visit to Israel as “pure falsification of history.” The US president landed in Tel Aviv yesterday for a three-day visit to Israel and Palestine. He is expected to arrive in the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier today for talks with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. President Obama courted controversy amongst Palestinians yesterday by referring to the Palestinian territories as “the historic land of Jews.” “We are committed to protecting the security of Israel, as it is a part of the US security policy,” he continued during his opening speech in Tel Aviv. Dr Yousif Rozka, a political adviser to Gaza’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the statement as a “falsification of history”. “Palestine has been the heart of the Arab world since the Islamic conquest in 600 AD. To say that it is the historic land of the Jews is a pure falsification of history and it is seriously damaging to the Palestinian people,” said Rozka. He added that such a statement reflects the “American bias”, criticising the US being “controlled and manipulated by Israel.” He called on the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas to bring up this criticism of Obama’s statements, during his meeting later today.