Obama at the UN on Israel-Palestine: Good Politics, Poor Diplomacy In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Atlantic (Opinion) - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am If you'd wanted to gauge how strained relations between the Obama administration and the Palestinian leadership have become, all you'd need do is watch the shaking heads of the Palestinian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly during the U.S. President's speech there on Wednesday. Obama reiterated the American commitment to a two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestine, both established U.S. policy. Rhetorically, however, his speech recognized most of the core elements of the Israeli narrative but virtually none of the Palestinian one. » Read more