Clinton: a 'first' in calling for a Palestinian state

Tue, 11/03/2009 - 7:31pm

Hillary Clinton, Morocco, Nov. 3, 2009 | ABDELHAK SENNA/AFP/Getty Images

In an interview with Al Jazeera today, reports the Politico's Laura Rozen, Secretary Clinton said she was the first American associated with any U.S. administration to call for the creation of a Palestinian state. She said,  "I was the first American associated with any admin to call for the establishment of a Palestinian state when I first did it 10 years ago. A lot of people thought that was very radical, now there is consensus we must get to a Palestinian state."

Clinton, seen above today in Marrakech, Morocco, at the Forum for the Future conference, is clearly trying to get back on track after her controversial remarks this weekend about West Bank settlements. The New America Foundation's Daniel Levy dissects the controversy in today's FP piece, "Unsettling Questions."

A few other tidbits of Clinton news:

•After attending the conference in Morocco, Clinton flew to Cairo today, and on the plane she served Lenôtre chocolate to the press. See the photo here.

•Japan apparently scheduled and then canceled a Friday meeting between Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Clinton. The reason: infighting within the Democratic Party of Japan.

•Over at the AfPak Channel, a contributor states that Clinton was insensitive when, two days after a terrible terrorist attack in Pakistan, she told a group of Pakistanis, "Al Qaeda has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002. I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to." As the New York Times put it, "The remarks upset her hosts, who have seen hundreds of soldiers and civilians killed as Pakistan has taken on a widening campaign against militant groups that have threatened the country from its tribal areas." Well, it certainly isn't the first time Clinton has been hard on Pakistan.

Photo: ABDELHAK SENNA/AFP/Getty Images

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Hillary

by Paula Copeland on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 6:53am

Was she the first person to say that there should be a Palestinian State? I think that may take some research. Or is she pulling an Al Gore, after all he did invent the internet right? casino en ligne

Yes she did...and yes she meant it

by Carolyn-Rodham on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 2:29pm

Friday, May 15, 1998

What motivated Hillary’s call for Palestinian state?
by MATTHEW DORF, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON -- "Did Hillary Rodham Clinton send a message of support for a Palestinian state on purpose?

Speaking during a satellite hookup with teenagers in Switzerland last week, she said "Palestine" or "state" at least seven times.

The White House contends she did not mean to signal a shift in U.S. policy when, in response to a question, the First Lady said, "I think it will be in the long-term interests of the Middle East for Palestine to be a state."

But many Israeli officials and Jewish groups remain unconvinced."

With good reason -- she said it and she meant it, and she said it four years before George Bush who claimed in 2002 thathe was the first American President to call for it.