China Says It Supports Palestinians' Statehood Bid

[Purveyor]

BEIJING (AP) -- China says it supports a Palestinian plan to seek full membership in the United Nations next month.

Negotiations with Israel on the terms of Palestinian statehood have been frozen since 2008. As an alternative, the Palestinians have decided to seek U.N. recognition of an independent "Palestine" in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that Wu Sike, its special envoy on the Middle East, told Palestinian leaders in a meeting in Ramallah that Beijing and the Chinese people have always supported the Palestinian cause.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-25-10-32-47

[Harmony Blue]

1. Was this expected?

Or is this a surprise for anyone?

[Jefferson23]

2. Very good. n/t

[Nick Hermann]

3. Not really news

China has always used rhetoric in support of third-world causes, since at least the 1970's. They have recognized Palestine as a legitimate state for decades, so this is not in the least surprising.

This said, many other nations support Palestine, but it is the US, UK, and of course Israel who are opposed to it.

[Mosby]

4. the US, UK and Israel are not opposed to a Palestinian state

[King_David]

9. Thats why China supports it nt

[crueltruths]

5. Who's China trying to fool?

Perhaps Israel should support the independence of Tibet and all the other nations that China has occupied and committed actual genocide against. It would be supremely wonderful to see better cooperation between the two "holy lands". I personally believe China has no right to criticize Israel about "Palestine" when what goes on in Tibet is much, much worse.

Under Chinese occupation, the Chinese communist government systematically rapes and tortures Tibetan prisoners for saying words like "autonomy" and "freedom." Arabs in Israel enjoy the freest press in all the Middle East. An Arab in Israel can choose what he wants to believe in. A Tibetan in Tibet cannot. Palestinians exercise their freedom of speech, without fear of retribution from Israel.

FREE TIBET!

[azurnoir]

6. oh a truly liberal cause indeed I hand it to you Free Tibet and it's 'fashionable' at that too

however if that delegitimizes China's support of a Palestinian state wouldn't America's occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan do the same for its support of Israel? I'm sure you will be quick to explain why not why its so different

so the next superpower supports Palestine IMO it's a new world order indeed

a new ProIsrael poster we so rarely see that here welcome to DU

[King_David]

10. True, for a board supporting the Democratic party ,

'a new ProIsrael poster we so rarely see that '

[shaayecanaan]

11. On the other hand, a new sock puppet is something we see all the time...

I think probably 90% of the Mr Sockos we see on DU probably come from the IP forum.

[LeftishBrit]

7. Good - though an even better headline would be

'China supports Tibet's statehood bid.'

[Jefferson23]

8. UN rep. Prosor: Israel has no chance of stopping recognition of Palestinian state

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office say Netanyahu is considering sitting out this year's General Assembly, sending Peres to face likely diplomatic barrage in his stead.

By Barak Ravid



Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, sent a classified cable to the Foreign Ministry last week, stating that Israel stands no chance of rallying a substantial number of states to oppose a resolution at the UN General Assembly recognizing a Palestinian state in September.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering not participating in this year's General Assembly. Instead President Shimon Peres is likely to represent Israel.

Under the headline "Report from the frontline at the UN," Prosor - considered one of the most experienced and senior Israeli diplomats - offered a very pessimistic estimate as to Israel's ability to significantly affect the results of the vote. Even though he did not state so explicitly, Prosor implies that Israel will sustain a diplomatic defeat.

"The maximum that we can hope to gain is for a group of states who will abstain or be absent during the vote," Prosor wrote, adding that his comments are based on more than 60 meetings he held during the past few weeks with his counterparts at the UN. "Only a few countries will vote against the Palestinian initiative," he wrote.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-rep-prosor-israel-has-no-chance-of-stopping-recognition-of-palestinian-state-1.381062