Abbas: UN debate on Palestinian statehood bid will take weeks, not months

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he expected the Security Council to finish debating his nation's application for full United Nations membership within weeks, not months.

Speaking to journalists on his plane back from the General Assembly in New York, where he presented the request, Abbas said Security Council members had initially appeared unenthusiastic about the idea of discussing the application.

But he said the mood appeared to change after he delivered a speech to the General Assembly on Friday, during which he pressed the Palestinian case for an independent state alongside Israel.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, has said it will block the move. Both governments say direct peace talks are the correct way for Palestinians to pursue peace. The U.S. holds veto power in the 15-member Security Council.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-un-debate-on-palestinian-statehood-bid-will-take-weeks-not-months-1.386504

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1. Palestinian official: Security Council must make decision on UN bid within two weeks

The Palestinians want the United Nations Security Council to decide on their bid for full membership of the world body within a fortnight, a leading official in the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday.

"Palestinians will wait two weeks for the Security Council to consider application for membership," the official, Azzam al-Ahmad, was quoted telling the independent Maan news agency in English.

Lebanon's UN ambassador said the Security Council would convene on Monday to discuss the application after Abbas presented it to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday.

"I circulated the letter (Palestinian application) to all members of the Security Council and I called for consultations in light of this letter on Monday at three in the afternoon (1900 GMT)," Ambassador Nawaf Salam told reporters.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-official-security-council-must-make-decision-on-un-bid-within-two-weeks-1.386501

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2. Mahmoud Abbas' historic U.N. address swells Palestinian pride

Reporting from Ramallah, West Bank—
At first the Kamal family wasn't even sure they'd watch. As an exuberant crowd of thousands gathered a few blocks away to listen to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ask for U.N. recognition, the family preferred the quiet of their living room.

After years of stalemate with Israel, their expectations were low. And as Nihad Kamal, a 38-year-old investment manager, explained: "We're not big fans of demonstrations."

But ultimately, the Kamals did tune their flat-panel television to watch Abbas. And despite their doubts, the family joined thousands of other Palestinians in the West Bank on Friday night in letting go of their cynicism — if only for a moment of unabashed pride at being in the international spotlight.

In an uncharacteristically impassioned speech, the normally soft-spoken Abbas inspired a weary public that has often blamed him for lack of progress in achieving independence. Flag-draped Palestinians hung out of car windows and danced in the streets during his speech and long after it was over.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-palestinians-israelis-20110924,0,6115616.story

[Jefferson23]

3. Call 911 Bibi, the world is changing. n/t

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4. Abbas to demand changes to Oslo peace accords

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he intends to demand the reopening of the Paris Agreement, the part of the Oslo Accords that deals with economic relations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

"We want to reopen the Paris Agreement and make changes to it," Abbas told reporters aboard the aircraft taking him home to Ramallah following the UN General Assembly meeting. "The agreement is not fair and there are restrictions on Palestinians that prevent our economy from growing and prospering. The Paris Agreement does not give us the opportunity to develop our economy and our country."

The Paris Agreement was signed in April 1994. It established that there was no commercial border between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and set up a joint customs system controlled by Israel that collects taxes for the Palestinians. The agreement imposes severe restrictions on trade between the Palestinians and the rest of the world and requires the Palestinians to depend on Israeli economic bodies.

At the time, the Palestinians objected to the agreement, preferring that economic relations with Israel be arranged as part of a free trade zone. The Palestinians only signed the agreement after Israel promised to allow Palestinians to continue working in Israel. Over the past ten years, the number of Palestinians working in Israel has dropped to a minimum.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-to-demand-changes-to-oslo-peace-accords-1.386520

[Jefferson23]

5. He must be driving Bibi nuts at this point, lol. Go for it Abbas. n/t