Diplomatic setback for the United States and Israel:
Palestinians win de facto UN recognition
1 December The China Post
The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly
approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine
after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to
issue its long overdue "birth certificate. "The U.N. victory for the
Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the United States and Israel,
which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against the
move to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the
United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity," like the Vatican.
Britain called on the United States to use its influence to help
break the long impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Washington
also called for a revival of direct negotiations.
There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Three
countries did not take part in the vote, held on the 65th anniversary of
the adoption of U.N. resolution 181 that partitioned Palestine into
separate Jewish and Arab states.
Thousands of flag-waving Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip set off fireworks and danced in the streets to celebrate the vote.
The assembly approved the upgrade despite threats by the United
States and Israel to punish the Palestinians by withholding funds for
the West Bank government. U.N. envoys said Israel might not retaliate
harshly against the Palestinians over the vote as long as they do not
seek to join the International Criminal Court.If the Palestinians were
to join the ICC, they could file complaints with the court accusing
Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious crimes.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate
and counterproductive," while the Vatican praised the move and called
for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem,
something bound to irritate Israel.
The much-anticipated vote came after Abbas denounced Israel from the
U.N. podium for its "aggressive policies and the perpetration of war
crimes," remarks that elicited a furious response from the Jewish
state."Sixty five years ago on this day, the United Nations General
Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic
Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel,"
Abbas told the assembly after receiving a standing ovation."The General
Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the
reality of the State of Palestine," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded quickly,
condemning Abbas' critique of Israel as "hostile and poisonous," and
full of "false propaganda."These are not the words of a man who wants
peace," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office. He
reiterated Israeli calls for direct talks with the Palestinians,
dismissing Thursday's resolution as "meaningless." A number of Western
delegations noted that Thursday's vote should not be interpreted as
formal legal recognition of a Palestinian state. Formal recognition of
statehood is something that is done bilaterally, not by the United
Nations.
Granting Palestinians the title of "non member observer state" falls
short of full U.N. membership something the Palestinians failed to
achieve last year. But it does have important legal implications - it
would allow them access to the ICC and other international bodies,
should they choose to join.
cap:Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, center, and the
delegation celebrate after the United Nations General Assembly voted to
approve a resolution to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority
to a nonmember observer state, Thursday, Nov. 29 at UN headquarters in
New York.
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