PLO official: US role in Mideast peace lacks credibility

The role of the United States in reviving the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations lacks credibility, a Palestinian official said Sunday. The administration of Barack Obama "recruits itself to spare Israel any kind of accountability and give the priority to Israel at the expense of peace chances and the implementation of international law," said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee. Ashrawi was commenting on the European Union (EU)'s decision to delay labeling products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank upon a request from Washington. The aim of the labels is to make easier for people to boycott the goods produced in settlements built on occupied lands, as most of the international community recognizes the settlements as illegal. The PLO official said the U.S. role "encourages Israel to go ahead in its settlement program and steal the land without any deterrent." The peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis stopped in 2010 over a dispute on the construction of settlements on lands the Palestinians want for a future state. This year, the Obama administration assigned Secretary of State John Kerry to work on reviving the negotiations.