about the US being able to say the record will show we tried right up until the end. The consequences of the Palestinians
refusal is now their responsibility.
Abbas on how serious the US has been:
At the U.N., Palestinians Keep Cards Close to the Chest
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13, 2011 (IPS) - When the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened Tuesday, one of the key questions lingering in the minds of most delegates was the state of Palestine - literally and metaphorically.
Will the Palestinians go to the Security Council seeking full membership at the United Nations - even at the expense of being vetoed by the United States?
Or will they be content with "enhanced observer status" in the 193- member General Assembly, where the Palestinians can garner an overwhelming majority of states to back them?
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, the newly-elected president of the General Assembly, Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser of Qatar, said, "Everything is up in the air."
"I have no idea which way they want to go," he said. "It's up to the Palestinians. But they have not contacted me. Nor have I seen the text of any draft resolution. We will have to wait and see."
Pressed for an answer, he said there are several theories floating around resulting in endless political speculation and confusion about the state of play.
"Believe me, I can assure there no secrets in the U.N. If there is a draft text," he said, he would be more than willing to share it with reporters. "But there is no such draft text - at least not yet."
"I believe in transparency. But I don't have any idea of what the draft resolution would be like because it has to be negotiated," Al- Nasser added.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to be in New York next Monday, when he is likely to hand over his application to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for transmission to the Security Council and the General Assembly.
Until then, everyone is being kept in the dark.
One U.N. ambassador told IPS, "We really don't know what's going on behind the scenes because the Palestinians are playing their cards close to their chest."
Abbas has publicly expressed his disappointment over the negative reaction from U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration has threatened to veto any application by Palestine for full membership at the United Nations.
Playing for time, Obama wants the Palestinians to resume their talks with an intransigent Israel.
In an interview with a U.S. weekly, Abbas put it in more colourful language: "It was Obama who suggested a full settlement freeze (which has been violated by the Israeli government time and time again)."
"I said OK. I accept. We both went up the tree. After that, he came down with a ladder and he removed the ladder and said to me, jump," said Abbas.
Mouin Rabbani, a visiting senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for Palestine Studies and a highly-respected Middle East political analyst, told IPS that two decades of negotiations have achieved nothing except the further consolidation of Israeli control over the occupied territories, in large part because of consistent U.S. support for Israeli impunity.
"It is therefore high time for an alternative and more effective approach to resolve this conflict and achieve a credible two-state settlement," he argued.
in full:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105093
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