The Guardian’s diplomatic editor Julian Borger blogs his analysis of Obama’s speech at the UN on Palestinian statehood (video):
A good measure of the emotional slant of any speech on the Israel-Palestine question is the relative weight given to Jewish and Arab suffering. By that measure, the needle on Obama’s speech was far over to one side. The president went into detail on the impact of suicide bombs and rockets, anti-Semitism in Arab schoolbooks and centuries of persecution on Jews. There was nothing on the pain of Palestinians under occupation, no mention of settlements, other than an acknowledgement of Arab frustration.
Photo: A journalist tends to a Palestinian youth who was hit in the face with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli security forces during clashes that erupted between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers at Qalandiya checkpoint September 21. The clashes erupted after a rally in the nearby West Bank city of Ramallah in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid for statehood recognition in the United Nations. Darren Whiteside/Reuters
