U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer speaking at the 2014 AIPAC Policy Conference, on March 3, 2014. Photo: Algemeiner.

Ahead of a much-awaited speech by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the 2014 AIPAC Policy Conference on Monday evening, Senator Chuck Schumer called on the Palestinian Authority to actually negotiate with Israel if it wants to achieve its own state.

“I say to the Palestinian leadership, negotiations are the only way you will realize your own state,” Schumer told a packed auditorium in Washington, D.C. “Just as war and terrorism will not give you a state, the United Nations cannot give you a state. Boycotting Israel cannot give you a state. Getting companies to divest from Israel cannot give you a state,” Schumer said to great applause.

“You, the Palestinian leadership, need to sit down with the Prime Minister of Israel who has said he will meet with you anywhere, any time and engage seriously in the give and take of negotiations,” Schumer said.

“And you must educate your people not to hate Israelis and honor terrorists, but to understand that co-existence with Israel is the best way to bring peace, prosperity and well-being that the Palestinian people want and deserve.”

The AIPAC crowd on Monday evening was anxiously awaiting Kerry who has been personally focused on the ongoing peace talks, making 11 visits to the Middle East over the past eight months to push the two sides towards a framework agreement within a soon to lapse, self-imposed, nine-month deadline.