Click to copy

Palestinians say US-backed Mideast summit is ‘futile’

February 6, 2019 GMT

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, speaks with former Israeli Knesset member Ran Cohen during a gathering of Palestinian and Israeli activists in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. Abbas pledged Wednesday to continue security coordination with Israel, despite recent U.S. funding cuts to Palestinian security forces and years of impasse in the peace process. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A senior Palestinian official says the Palestinians have not been invited to next week’s Mideast conference in Poland and have no desire to participate unless the U.S. changes its policies.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Wednesday that current American policies will “only lead to futile results.”

The U.S. and Poland are sponsoring the Feb. 13-14 conference, which they say is aimed at promoting peace and security in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans on attending.

The Palestinians accuse the Trump administration of being unfairly biased in favor of Israel. They say they will reject a planned U.S. peace initiative unless it endorses an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital.