Palestinians See U.N. Bid as Their Most Viable Option

[Purveyor]

By ETHAN BRONNER and ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: September 17, 2011

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian decision to apply for full United Nations membership at the Security Council, announced Friday by President Mahmoud Abbas, was the most viable of the only options possible: surrender, return to violence or appeal to the international community, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday.

The official, Nabil Shaath, spoke to journalists before leaving for New York as part of the Palestinian delegation heading to the United Nations. He said that the appeal would change the ground rules of the conflict, and that although the Obama administration had vowed to veto the request and Israel had threatened punitive countermeasures, the Arab uprisings should make them reconsider.

“If I were President Obama or Israel, I would ask myself what is happening in the region,” he said, adding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel: “Mr. Netanyahu is a pragmatist. If the odds change, he may change his calculations.”

Going to the Security Council instead of to the General Assembly, where there is no veto and where a pro-Palestinian majority is virtually guaranteed, has been considered a riskier and more confrontational approach because it invites an American veto.

MORE...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/world/middleeast/palestinians-see-united-nations-appeal-as-best-option-available.html?_r=2&ref=world

[ixion]

1. I hope they get it...

they are a deserving of it as any other nation-state in existence.

[movonne]

2. I agree...

[hack89]

3. They are also deserving of a unified and competent government.

since Hamas does not support statehood. Isn't a civil war a more likely outcome?

[applegrove]

4. They won't surrender. America will veto the UN resolution. So all that is left is violence: an

intefada would get them much further than the suicide bombings of Israeli civilians.

[holdencaufield]

5. You don't see a connection...

...between intifada and the bombing of Israeli civilians?

[applegrove]

6. Yes. If the palestinians would just stick to not hurting civilians they would be doing themselves a

great favour. I should have included the rocket launches into Israel with the suicide bombings.