US State Department sets up Israel, gets caught

Secretary of State says: "um, sorry about that."

US says it erred in case of Gaza Strip students

The United States said on Monday it had erred by not approaching the Israeli government earlier to help seven Palestinians from the Gaza Strip obtain Israeli exit visas to take up US Fulbright fellowships.

The State Department said it approached the Israeli government on Friday, after The New York Times published a story about their case, to assist the seven, who had been selected for the prestigious US government scholarship.

Israel tightened its cordon of the Gaza Strip after Hamas took over the the coastal territory nearly a year ago and it gives few Palestinians, besides some who are gravely ill, permission to leave.

The US State Department last week told the seven their Fulbright grants had been withdrawn and it took steps to be able to direct the money to other Palestinians in the West Bank because of the trouble getting the exit visas from Gaza.

After the newspaper story was published, William Burns, the third-ranking US diplomat, approached the Israeli government to seek its help in obtaining exit permits for the seven.

"Was there a faulty decision-making process internal to the State Department in this particular case? Yes, there was," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

McCormack sought to put the best face on the matter, saying US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had acted immediately after she learned about the problem to try to fix it.

Meanwhile, in Washington DC:

Condoleezza Rice at an AIPAC conference stressed the urgency of establishing a Palestinian state.

“The expansion of violence in the Middle East makes the establishment of a peaceful Palestinian state more urgent, not less,” the U.S. secretary of state said Tuesday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington.

“The present opportunity is not perfect by any means, but it is better than any other in recent years and we need to seize it. Israelis have waited too long for the security they desire and deserve, and Palestinians have waited too long amidst daily humiliations for the dignity of a Palestinian state.”

Rice’s remarks were greeted with silence.

Posted on 03 June 2008 @ 23:39 GMT