BETHLEHEM: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday called for US President Barack Obama to make "bold decisions" on Middle East peace and accused Israel of "terrorism."
His remarks at the opening of an investment conference in the occupied West Bank came ahead of a visit to Washington next week and days after Israel’s deadly capture of an aid convoy bound for the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
"My message to Obama during our meeting in Washington next week will be that we need bold decisions to change the face of the region," Abbas said.
He was to meet with US envoy George Mitchell later in the day for the latest round of indirect "proximity" talks with Israel launched on May 9.
"My message to all parties is that we need bold decisions to change the face of the region and end the suffering and the pain and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands," Abbas said.
The president spoke at the opening of the 2010 Palestine Investment Conference, which he referred to as the "Freedom Conference" in honor of those killed on Monday aboard the "Freedom Flotilla" captured on Monday.
Organizers said delegations from 26 countries would be attending the conference, including a US presidential delegation led by Mitchell.
International peace envoy Tony Blair was also in attendance.
The West Bank economy saw 8.5 percent growth last year as Israel eased some movement restrictions and hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid flowed to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s Western-backed government.
All festivities connected to the conference were cancelled following the deadly seizure of the aid convoy, but organizers said they would still hold plenary sessions and working meetings between delegates and officials.
Meanwhile, Abbas accused Israel of "state terrorism" over the violent seizure of the ships by naval commandos in a botched assault in which nine activists were killed and scores wounded, including some Israeli soldiers.
"The Palestinian people were facing state terrorism when Israel attacked the Freedom Flotilla. The Palestinian people and the entire world are confronted with this terrorism," he said.
"We have seen daily examples of terrorism with the killings and the expulsions from houses, the confiscation of lands and the siege on Gaza.
"We ask the world, how long will this go on?"
At the opening of the conference, participants observed a moment of silence for those killed aboard the ships.
Abbas later drew a roar of applause and a standing ovation when he hailed Ankara’s harsh response to the raid on the Turkish-backed flotilla.
On Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the operation as a "bloody massacre" and urged the world to punish Israel for its "lawlessness" in a speech that helped transform him into a Palestinian hero.
Turkey had earlier recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and scrapped planned joint military exercises with Israel, plunging already tense relations between the two once close allies into a new crisis.
