Palestinians committed to their right to independent state

The Palestinian people are committed to their rights and insist on building independent Palestinian state institutions despite the obstacles they have been facing, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Speaking at a press conference here held with visiting US President Barack Obama, Abbas said the Palestinian people are aspiring to acquire their simplest rights to freedom, independence and peace. The Palestinians are longing for the day when they will enjoy a normal life in an independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and beside the state of Israel, Abbas said. For his part, Obama said Palestinians deserve an end to occupation and the daily indignities that come with it. "Palestinians deserve a state of their own", he said. The only way to achieve that goal is by direct negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis themselves", he said. The settlement issue cannot be solved overnight," he said. "If the expectation is that we can only have direct negotiations when everything is settled ahead of time, then there's no point to negotiations. It's important for us to work through this process even if there are irritants on both sides." "The core issue right now is how do we get sovereignty for the Palestinian people and security for Israeli people," he said. Obama traveled to Ramallah after talks on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the first day of his visit to the Middle East.