adminstatehood, the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is pressing ahead with his demands for a total freeze on settlements before any peace talks can resume.
Abbas returned to Ramallah on Sunday to a cheering crowd of thousands after his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last Friday.
He said although there were many obstacles, the international campaign had begun.
“The Palestinian spring is certainly under way, with the creation of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. The journey is long and there are many obstacles, but with our people’s steadfastness, we will overcome these obstacles.”
The Palestinian leadership is due to meet tomorrow, Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh, the head of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, said. The first item on the agenda would be the statement released on Friday by the Middle East Quartet, made up of the United Nations, Russia, the United States and the European Union, that set out a timetable for peace negotiations and framework for the
talks, Dr Shtayyeh said. Other priorities included the relationship with Israel and “Palestinian-Palestinian” reconciliation, which involves a meeting in Cairo in early October with the Hamas leadership.
“Our relationship with Israel is a very complicated issue. Our economic relationship is going to be reviewed, as most of the agreements – including the economic agreement itself – are outdated and should be re-examined,” Dr Shtayyeh told the Herald.
Lebanon’s UN ambassador Nawaf Salam said that he had handed over the Palestinian application to all members of the council after receiving it from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“I circulated the (Palestinian application) letter to all members of the Security Council and I called for consultations in light of this letter yesterday,” Salam, the council president, told reporters.
In order for the Palestinian statehood to be recognised, nine of the 15 members of the council should vote in favour. But only the five permanent members have the right of veto. Two permanent Security Council members, Russia and China, have already vowed support to the Palestinians, while Britain and France have not yet announced their decision. But the shadow of a promised American veto hangs heavily over the proceedings as US President Barack Obama has vowed to prevent the recognition of any free Palestinian state without the approval of Israel.
Four non-permanent members, India, Brazil, South Africa and Lebanon, have also thrown their weight behind the bid. Germany, Nigeria, Bosnia, Portugal and Gabon have not revealed their decisions, while Colombia has said it will abstain. As the bid is most likely to be vetoed by Washington, the next best option for the Palestinians is to ask the General Assembly to vote to upgrade their status from observer to non-member state, which would clear the way for membership of a number of UN agencies, something the US and Israel oppose. That vote would just require the majority of the current 193 UN members. With the statehood bid being widely supported across the world, the Palestinians are most likely to upgrade their status.
The Palestinian Authority has given the UN two weeks to decide on the issue, after accusing the US of intimidating member states to bog the bid down in bureaucracy. Washington is staunchly supporting Israel’s position, despite Obama’s call for a sovereign Palestinian state during his address to the UN General Assembly last year.
According to author and historian William Blum, the reason for such devotion is Obama’s campaign funding.
“He is pro-Israel because (of the) money he gets for his election campaigns – he gets a fortune from the Jewish lobbies and Jewish individuals,” Blum told RT. “That is what motivates him and that is the only rational.” – Sidney Morning Herald-RT.
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