SHARJAH, November 8, 2009 (WAFA)- 'Despite the Israeli-imposed 'guilt' complex of Europe over the Holocaust, the European countries, which account for more than half of Israel's export, have a better leverage over the Jewish state. The UK should lead the effort from the front; after all, it created the Palestinian problem in the first place', WAM quoted The Gulf Today editorial as saying .

“Now it become clear to Obama that he is bound by domestic political considerations and cannot apply real and effective pressure on Israel, he should be thinking of leaving the job of peacemaking in the Middle East to the international community led by the Europeans,” the paper remarked.

The paper  wrote: “The declaration by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he wants to stand down and does not want to run in the upcoming Palestinian elections is a reflection of the difficult position he finds himself in.” added that  “He is under US pressure to resume peace talks with Israel even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to steal Palestinian land in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, Geneva Conventions and international appeals.”

It said: “Having failed to convince Netanyahu to freeze construction of settlements for Jews in the occupied West Bank, the administration of US President Barack Obama has opted to apply pressure on the Palestinians. There is no assurance that renewed negotiations would lead to a fair and just peace agreement either, given the Israeli refusal to accept and respect the Palestinians' right to independent statehood in the territory earmarked for them in UN resolutions with Arab East Jerusalem as their capital.”

'Abbas stands to lose everything if he agrees to resume negotiations with Israel under the present conditions. He is no position to apply pressure on Israel. That job should be left to the US, which encouraged and supported Abbas in his demand for a freeze in Israel's settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, but stepped back in a hurry when faced with Netanyahu's stubborn refusal to make any meaningful compromise,” the paper added.

The reality today is that Netanyahu and his ruling coalition have no intention to enter a fair and just peace agreement with the Palestinians. If they had their way, they would expel all Palestinians from the occupied West Bank-- and indeed all Arabs who hold Israeli nationality, it observed.

The paper said that, by virtue of their physical control of the occupied territory, Netanyahu and company are sitting pretty but applying direct and indirect pressure on the Palestinians living there to give up their territorial and political rights.