Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns has asked the Israeli government to stop settlement expansion in the Palestinian territories and reduce its forces in the West Bank.

“Israel should halt settlement expansion, remove unauthorized outposts, and reduce its footprint in the West Bank,” said Burns who was the keynote speaker at the recent second annual gala dinner of the Washington-based American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). “I know the Israelis are serious about peace, but it is important that the Palestinian people know and see that as well.”

Calling the creation of a Palestinian state “a key American interest,” Burns said that an independent Palestinian state “deserves to come to creation” and is now the highest priority of the US administration.

“In order to achieve this goal, our priorities are threefold: to support progress on political talks between President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert; to assist with Palestinian capacity and institution building; and to encourage tangible improvements on the ground,” said Burns.

This is not the first time that the State Department has used the ATFP to highlight US policy priorities in the Middle East; US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed the group at its first gala last year. Focusing on the international meeting the US is hosting later this autumn in Annapolis, Maryland, Burn told the audience that the Annapolis meeting would be consistent with the road map plan for peace and that as part of that, Israel and Palestinians needed to adhere to their obligations.

But for comprehensive peace in the Middle East, Burns said, there must be “the creation of an independent, viable Palestine. We are absolutely serious about moving this issue forward,” he said to applause.

The US “aims to support the political process and rally international support for the efforts of the Palestinians and Israelis... President Bush has made this one of the highest priorities of his administration, noted Burns.

Burns said the “framework” at the meeting will be “consistent with the road map, and based on the principle of land for peace, United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 1397, and the Arab League Peace Initiative.”

Aiming for all the regions neighbors to participate in the meeting, Burns stressed “regional support is key to success, and essential for a comprehensive Middle East peace.”

Burns spoke candidly about Palestinians currently living under harsh conditions, and was critical of Israeli checkpoints and security barriers in the West Bank.

On a personal note, the undersecretary revealed that his sister-in-law is of Palestinian origin and lived her life as a refugee before settling in the United States.

He praised ATFP for “overcoming the stereotype” toward Palestinian Americans, recalling his days when he served in the US Consulate in Jerusalem where he witnessed first-hand how Palestinians live “under occupation with dignity”.

“What was most striking about this year’s gala was the tone that was struck by foreign policy establishment figures about the unacceptability of the occupation and the unquestionable need for a Palestinian state,” said Hussein Ibish, Senior Fellow at the ATFP.

“They are enthusiastic and not tentative about Palestinian independence and spoke about it as a good thing in and of itself rather than simply a necessity for Israel or a benefit to the US, but as a moral imperative. This is a very different tone that we are used to hearing on this issue.”

The ATFP’s black tie gala also presented three life achievement awards. The three recipients included US Ambassador Theodor Kattouf, for Excellent in Government Service. Ambassador Kattouf is currently the president and CEO of AMIDEAST.

Farouk Shami, a Houston-based businessman, founder of Farouk Systems, Inc., received the Excellence in Commerce and Industry award. Not one to forget his past, he brought as one of his guests the first person that hired him when he came to the US in 1969.

Dr. Theodore Baramki, an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at John Hopkins School of Medicine, received the Excellence in Medicine award.

“I lived in Jerusalem for 16 years,” said Baramki, “and I lived under the cloud of the Balfour Declaration. A Bush declaration would balance Balfour declaration and correct some of the injustice done to the Palestinian people.

“Jews should remember that for what Hitler did to them, they should not do the same to the Palestinians. I hope at next year’s ATFP gala, we will be celebrating the independent state of Palestine.”