Palestinians certain to win recognition as a state
Source: Agencies |
November 30, 2012, Friday
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THE Palestinians are certain to win UN recognition as a state early this morning in a General Assembly vote that Israel and the United States warn could delay hopes of achieving an independent Palestinian homeland through peace talks with Israel.
The US, Israel's closest ally, mounted an aggressive campaign to head off the General Assembly vote, which Palestinians view as a historic step in a quest for global recognition.
With most of the 193 General Assembly member states sympathetic to the Palestinians, the vote was certain to succeed. Several countries, including France and Italy, recently announced they would support the move to elevate the Palestinians from the status of UN observer to nonmember observer state.
However, a country's vote in favor of the status change does not automatically imply its individual recognition of a Palestine state, something that must be done bilaterally.
The Palestinians say they need UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967, to be able to resume negotiations with Israel. The non-member observer state status could also open the way for possible war crimes charges against the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court.
Personal appeal
In a last-ditch move on Wednesday, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns made a personal appeal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013 if Abbas abandoned the effort to seek statehood. Abbas refused.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the recognition of an independent state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly would not advance the Palestinians' quest for a homeland.
He said the Palestinians would not win a state until they recognized Israel as the Jewish homeland, declared an end to their conflict with the Jewish state and agreed to security arrangements that protected Israel.
The Palestinians chose the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" for the vote. Before it was to take place, there were speeches by supporters focusing on the rights of the Palestinians. Abbas was due to speak at the meeting, before presenting the case for statehood in the General Assembly.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the UN vote would not fulfill the goal of independent Palestinian and Israeli states living side by side in peace, which the US strongly supports because that requires direct negotiations.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that by going to the UN, the Palestinians violated "both the spirit and the word of signed agreements to solve issues through negotiations," which broke down four years ago.
The US, Israel's closest ally, mounted an aggressive campaign to head off the General Assembly vote, which Palestinians view as a historic step in a quest for global recognition.
With most of the 193 General Assembly member states sympathetic to the Palestinians, the vote was certain to succeed. Several countries, including France and Italy, recently announced they would support the move to elevate the Palestinians from the status of UN observer to nonmember observer state.
However, a country's vote in favor of the status change does not automatically imply its individual recognition of a Palestine state, something that must be done bilaterally.
The Palestinians say they need UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967, to be able to resume negotiations with Israel. The non-member observer state status could also open the way for possible war crimes charges against the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court.
Personal appeal
In a last-ditch move on Wednesday, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns made a personal appeal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013 if Abbas abandoned the effort to seek statehood. Abbas refused.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the recognition of an independent state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly would not advance the Palestinians' quest for a homeland.
He said the Palestinians would not win a state until they recognized Israel as the Jewish homeland, declared an end to their conflict with the Jewish state and agreed to security arrangements that protected Israel.
The Palestinians chose the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" for the vote. Before it was to take place, there were speeches by supporters focusing on the rights of the Palestinians. Abbas was due to speak at the meeting, before presenting the case for statehood in the General Assembly.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the UN vote would not fulfill the goal of independent Palestinian and Israeli states living side by side in peace, which the US strongly supports because that requires direct negotiations.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that by going to the UN, the Palestinians violated "both the spirit and the word of signed agreements to solve issues through negotiations," which broke down four years ago.
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