Obama's Speech in Ramallah

Transcript of  Obama's Speech in Ramallah

March 22, 2013

 

Marhaba.  Thank you, President Abbas, for your generous words and for welcoming me to Ramallah.  I was last here five years ago, and it’s a pleasure to be back — to see the progress that’s happened since my last visit, but also to bear witness to the enduring challenges to peace and security that so many Palestinians seek.  I’ve returned to the West Bank because the United States is deeply committed to the creation of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine.

 

The Palestinian people deserve an end to occupation and the daily indignities that come with it.  Palestinians deserve to move and travel freely, and to feel secure in their communities. Like people everywhere, Palestinians deserve a future of hope — that their rights will be respected, that tomorrow will be better than today and that they can give their children a life of dignity and opportunity.  Put simply, Palestinians deserve a state of their own.

 

I want to commend President Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, for the progress that they’ve made in building the institutions of a Palestinian state.  And the United States is a proud partner in these efforts — as the single largest donor of assistance that improves the lives of Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza.  As your partner, we salute your achievements and we mourn your losses.  We offer condolences, in particular, over the loss of your fellow Palestinians last weekend in the tragic accident in Jordan.

 

Ramallah is a very different city than the one I visited five years ago.  There’s new construction.  There’s new businesses, new start-ups, including many high-tech companies, connecting Palestinians to the global economy.  The Palestinian Authority is more efficient and more transparent.  There are new efforts to combat corruption so entrepreneurs and development can expand.  Palestinian security forces are stronger and more professional — serving communities like Bethlehem, where President Abbas and I will visit the Church of the Nativity tomorrow.

 

Moreover, this progress has been achieved under some extremely challenging circumstances.  So I want to pay tribute to President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad for their courage, for their tenacity, and for their commitment to building the institutions upon which a lasting peace and security will depend.

 

I would point out that all this stands in stark contrast to the misery and repression that so many Palestinians continue to confront in Gaza — because Hamas refuses to renounce violence; because Hamas cares more about enforcing its own rigid dogmas than allowing Palestinians to live freely; and because too often it focuses on tearing Israel down rather than building Palestine up.  We saw the continuing threat from Gaza again overnight, with the rockets that targeted Sderot.  We condemn this violation of the important cease-fire that protects both Israelis and Palestinians — a violation that Hamas has a responsibility to prevent.

 

Here in the West Bank, I realize that this continues to be a difficult time for the Palestinian Authority financially.  So I’m pleased that in recent weeks the United States has been able to provide additional assistance to help the Palestinian Authority bolster its finances.  Projects through USAID will help strengthen governance, rule of law, economic development, education and health.  We consider these to be investments in a future Palestinian state — investments in peace, which is in all of our interests.

 

And more broadly, in our discussions today I reaffirmed to President Abbas that the United States remains committed to realizing the vision of two states, which is in the interests of the Palestinian people, and also in the national security interest of Israel, the United States, and the world.  We seek an independent, a viable and contiguous Palestinian state as the homeland of the Palestinian people, alongside the Jewish State of Israel — two nations enjoying self-determination, security and peace.

 

As I have said many times, the only way to achieve that goal is through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians themselves.  There is no shortcut to a sustainable solution.

 

In our discussion with President Abbas, I heard him speak eloquently about the difficult issues that cannot be ignored — among them, problems caused by continued settlement activities, the plight of Palestinian prisoners, and access to holy sites in Jerusalem.  I understand that the status quo isn’t really a status quo, because the situation on the ground continues to evolve in a direction that makes it harder to reach a two-state solution.  And I know that the Palestinian people are deeply frustrated.

 

So one of my main messages today — the same message I’m conveying in Israel — is that we cannot give up.  We cannot give up on the search for peace, no matter how hard it is.  As I said with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, we will continue to look for steps that both Israelis and Palestinians can take to build the trust and the confidence upon which lasting peace will depend.  And I very much appreciate hearing President Abbas’s ideas on what those steps could be.

 

I want both sides to know that as difficult as the current situation is, my administration is committed to doing our part. And I know that Secretary of State John Kerry intends to spend significant time, effort, and energy in trying to bring about a closing of the gap between the parties.  We cannot give up on the search for peace.  Too much is at stake.

 

And if we’re going to succeed, part of what we’re going to have to do is to get out of some of the formulas and habits that have blocked progress for so long.  Both sides are going to have to think anew.  Those of us in the United States are going to have to think anew.  But I’m confident that we can arrive at our destination to advance the vision of two nations, two neighbors at peace — Israel and Palestine.

 

If given the chance, one thing that I’m very certain of is that the Palestinians have the talent, the drive, and the courage to succeed in their own state.  I think of the villages that hold peaceful protests because they understand the moral force of nonviolence.  I think of the importance that Palestinian families place on education.  I think of the entrepreneurs determined to create something new, like the young Palestinian woman I met at the entrepreneurship summit that I hosted who wants to build recreation centers for Palestinian youth.  I think of the aspirations that so many young Palestinians have for their future — which is why I’m looking forward to visiting with some of them right after we conclude this press conference.

 

That’s why we can’t give up, because of young Palestinians and young Israelis who deserve a better future than one that is continually defined by conflict.  Whenever I meet these young people, whether they’re Palestinian or Israeli, I’m reminded of my own daughters, and I know what hopes and aspirations I have for them.  And those of us in the United States understand that change takes time but it is also possible, because there was a time when my daughters could not expect to have the same opportunities in their own country as somebody else’s daughters.

 

What’s true in the United States can be true here as well.  We can make those changes, but we’re going to have to be determined.  We’re going to have to have courage.  We’re going to have to be willing to break out of the old habits, the old arguments, to reach for that new place, that new world.  And I want all the people here and throughout the region to know that you will have the President of the United States and an administration that is committed to achieving that goal.