Arabs respond to one thing and one thing only, violence and the threat of it. (JPost)- US President Barack Obama has lost all credibility in the Middle East, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told US envoy George Mitchell in October 2009, according to leaked Palestinian documents released by Al-Jazeera and the Guardian Wednesday night.
In an apparently heated exchange with Mitchell about a settlement freeze, Erekat said he would not be able to convince the Palestinians to negotiate without a full settlement freeze.
Its not up to me to decide your credibility in the Middle East, Erekat said. He [Obama] has lost it throughout the region.
When he got the Nobel Peace Prize, I was asked about it in the media and publicly congratulated him. I was attacked for it in the Arab media just for congratulating like I would congratulate anyone who wins a prize
Believe me, there is no president in the Middle East who wants to help Obama as much as AM [PA President Mahmoud Abbas].
Later in the meeting, Erekat said that people in the Middle East are not taking Barack Obama seriously. They feared Bush, despite everything. This is important. BO [Obama] has lost it with the decision-makers, although not the street.