U.S. should recognize Palestinian state

[Jefferson23]

Just like 23 years ago, today too, Washington is standing like a fortified wall blocking the entry of Palestine to the United Nations.

By Zvi Bar'el

Memory is short and forgetfulness is often deliberate, but 23 years ago the UN General Assembly decided to move its session from New York to Switzerland so that Palestine Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat could deliver a speech. The reason: U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz refused to issue Yasser Arafat an entry visa to the United States.

Today too, with the opening of the session of the General Assembly, Washington is standing like a fortified wall blocking the entry of Palestine to the UN building. Although Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has no problem getting a visa, when he comes to ask for a state for the Palestinians he is put on a roller coaster. The list of threats and future punishments to be imposed on him and his country, if it is established, guarantees that this will be a state that is battered from birth.

Here is colonialism in all its glory. After all, the United States agrees that there should be a Palestinian state, it even twisted the arm of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a little bit, cautiously so it wouldn't hurt, so that he would blurt out the necessary formula "two states for two peoples." U.S. President Barack Obama even spoke about the optimal borders of the Palestinian state and Abbas was not yet required to recognize Israel.

After all, Arafat already recognized it. Palestine fulfilled all the threshold conditions. And still, this state has only one chance of being born the American way. Through negotiations that will lead to a consensual agreement and a handshake. And if Israel's hand is missing, never mind, the Palestinians will wait until it grows.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/u-s-should-recognize-palestinian-state-1.385694

[Jefferson23]

1. What are the PLO's options at the UN?

Abbas insists the PLO will only request full statehood, but Palestinians have many strategies available to them at UN.

Roxanne Horesh and Sam Bollier Last Modified: 19 Sep 2011 19:28

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) will go before the United Nations on Friday to apply for full statehood at the international body.

Husam Zomlot, a deputy of Fatah's Department of Foreign Relations, who is representing the PLO in New York, said: "We will go the fastest route". Yet it is uncertain what the fastest route is, or what strategy the PLO will use.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, insisted in a televised speech on September 16 that the PLO will bring its case before the Security Council.

But in a last-ditch attempt, US and European diplomats are trying to convince the PLO delegation in New York to withdraw their bid and return to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, some Arab leaders have told Abbas to request non-member observer status at the General Assembly instead.

The following are options the PLO team in New York may be considering:

Strategy 1: Go before the Security Council for full UN membership

remainder: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/09/2011919172145765295.html

[Jefferson23]

2. Palestinians under pressure to drop UN bid

Foreign minister says he was "amazed" by US efforts to persuade other countries not to support the membership effort.
Last Modified: 21 Sep 2011 02:13

The Palestinians have came under intense pressure to drop a bid for UN membership as diplomats worked behind the scenes to head off a looming clash.

Riyad al-Maliki, Palestinian foreign minister, said he was "amazed" by the US efforts to persuade other countries to not to support the Palestinian bid.

"They have used different forms of pressure, threats, and many others, sending letters, sending ambassadors, etcetera, etcetera... Amazing," he told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

The White House has said President Barack Obama would meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The US has been leading the drive to stop the Palestinians submitting their application for full UN membership on Friday as threatened, and has vowed to veto any such bid to the UN Security Council.

"I hope that the United States will change its position and follow the majority of countries which want to support the Palestinian right to self-determination and an independent state," Maliki said.

He reaffirmed the Palestinians will seek Security Council recognition of an independent Palestinian state, and said they believed they could win the necessary votes of nine of the council's 15 members.

Israel has slammed the move as a bid to circumvent the peace talks that ground to a halt a year ago after Israel refused to extend a moratorium on settlement building.

Before leaving for New York, Netanyahu said "the path to peace is through dialogue and not through unilateral declarations". He has also called on Abbas to open up direct talks in New York and resume them in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

In response, Abbas told Fox News television that he would "meet any Israeli official any time" but said there would be no point in meeting if they had "nothing tangible" to offer.

European effort

European nations are working behind the scenes to try to avert the confrontation, with the Middle East Quartet also seeking to draw up a statement that would coax Israel and the Palestinians back to talks.


Palestinian foreign minister al-Maliki talks to Al Jazeera


US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the Quartet statement. But British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who met Abbas on Tuesday, said "no progress" had yet been made on drafting it.

In a letter to Britain's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander, Hague said he was working to find a way forward and "create the strongest possible foundation for a return to negotiations."

Britain had deliberately withheld its position on the issue of Palestinian statehood at the UN, along with European partners, as it "maintains the pressure on both sides to show the flexibility needed to enable a return to negotiations," he wrote.

The Palestinians however have been buoyed by about 120 countries that have already bilaterally recognised a state of Palestine or backed such a position.

If the Palestinians fail to win over nine of the 15 Security Council members, any resolution would fail, saving Obama from an embarrassing US veto.

Another option could then be for the UN General Assembly to welcome the Palestinians as an enhanced observer non-member state, a status so far enjoyed only by the Vatican.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/20119210543812752.html