setUoYouRPROFILE's blog: "tufui"

UNITED NATIONS — US President Barack Obama warned Wednesday there was no "shortcut" to peace as the Palestinians appeared to hear pleas to ease tensions over their bid for full UN state membership. As France launched its own bid to avert a new Middle East crisis over the Palestinian campaign,gucci outlet a top official said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was ready to give "some time" to the Security Council to consider statehood. But the Palestinians did not pull back from their vow to submit their application on Friday, with tens of thousands of Palestinians rallying in the occupied territories in support of the move. Even though several countries stepped up to the podium at the UN General Assembly to voice their backing for the Palestinian -- including Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa all non-permanent members of the Security Council -- Obama insisted only direct negotiations could lead to a peace deal with Israel. "I am convinced that there is no shortcut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades," Obama told the UN General Assembly in his speech. He did not mention the US threat to veto the issue if it goes before the UN Security Council, but said: "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN -- if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now." Many observers fear that a US veto of the Palestinian ambition could trigger a wave of violence in the Middle East, already rocked by the pro-democracy uprisings in several countries. But Obama insisted the Israelis and Palestinians must sit down to "reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem." For Obama, the confrontation is an embarrassment as 12 months ago he stood at the UN assembly and called for Palestinian membership of the United Nations within a year. "I believed then -- and I believe now -- that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own," Obama said. But he added Israel must also have cast-iron security guarantees. "Let's be honest: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it." He later met with both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the US leader deserved a "badge of honor" for his defense of the Jewish state.