Palestinians Officially Submit Statehood Bid to U.N.
- Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:05pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas. (Photo: AP)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Defying U.S. and Israeli opposition, Palestinians asked the United Nations on Friday to accept them as a member state, sidestepping nearly two decades of troubled negotiations in the hope this dramatic move on the world stage would reenergize their quest for an independent homeland.
In the West Bank, the core of that hoped-for state, a Palestinian man was shot dead in a clash with Israeli soldiers and settlers as antagonisms flared over the statehood bid.
Earlier in the week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rebuffed an intense, U.S.-led effort to sway him from the statehood bid, saying he would submit the application to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon as planned.
“We’re going without any hesitation and continuing despite all the pressures,” Abbas told members of the Palestinian diaspora at a hotel in New York on Thursday night. “We seek to achieve our right and we want our independent state.” Shortly before noon on Friday, Ban’s spokesman tweeted, “President Abbas just handed the Palestinian application to the Secretary-General UNSG.”
In his letter to Ban accompanying the application, Abbas asked the U.N. chief to immediately forward the request for full U.N. membership to the Security Council and the General Assembly, according to a top aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity before the documents were submitted. The General Assembly will likely be asked to approve a more modest status upgrade if the bid in the council founders as expected.
Palestinian officials said they were not authorized to release copies of the document until Ban delivers it to the Security Council at an unspecified time.
To be sure, Abbas’ appeal to the U.N. to recognize Palestinian independence in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip would not deliver any immediate changes on the ground: Israel would remain an occupying force in those first two territories and continue to severely restrict access to Gaza, ruled by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Beyond that, Security Council action on the membership request could take weeks or months.
The strategy also put the Palestinians in direct confrontation with the U.S., which has threatened to veto their membership bid in the Council, reasoning, like Israel, that statehood can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties to end the long and bloody conflict.
Also hanging heavy in the air was the threat of renewed violence over frustrated Palestinian aspirations, in spite of Abbas’ vow – perceived by Israeli security officials as genuine – to prevent Palestinian violence. The death on Friday of 35-year-old Issam Badram, in gunfire that erupted after rampaging Jewish settlers destroyed trees in a Palestinian grove, was the type of incident that both Palestinians and Israelis had feared would spark widespread violence. There were three other incidents of small-scale unrest, but most of the West Bank was quiet.
Yet by seeking approval at a world forum overwhelmingly sympathetic to their quest, Palestinians hope to make it harder for Israel to resist already heavy global pressure to negotiate the borders of a future Palestine based on lines Israel held before capturing the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in 1967.
In recent weeks, international mediators have been furiously trying to piece together a formula that would let the Palestinians abandon their plan to ask the Security Council for full U.N. membership, and instead make do with asking a sympathetic General Assembly to elevate their status from permanent observer to nonmember observer state. The other part of that formula would include the resumption of negotiations in short order.
The U.S. and Israel have been pressuring Council members to either vote against the plan or abstain when it comes up for a vote. The vote would require the support of nine of the Council’s 15 members to pass, but even if the Palestinians could line up that backing, a U.S. veto is assured.
The resumption of talks seems an elusive goal, with both sides digging in to positions that have tripped up negotiations for years. Israel insists that negotiations go ahead without any preconditions. But Palestinians say they will not return to the bargaining table without assurances that Israel would halt settlement building and drop its opposition to basing negotiations on the borders it held before capturing the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza in 1967.
Israel has warned that the Palestinian appeal to the U.N. will have a disastrous effect on negotiations, which have been the cornerstone of international Mideast policy for the past two decades. Netanyahu, who is to address the General Assembly later Friday, shortly after Abbas makes his own address, opposes negotiations based on 1967 lines, saying a return to those frontiers would expose Israel’s heartland to rocket fire from the West Bank.
He also fears that if that principle becomes the baseline for negotiations, then Palestinians won’t settle for anything less, despite previous understandings between the Palestinians and previous Israeli governments to swap land where settlement blocs stand for Israeli territory.
Talks for all intents and purposes broke down nearly three years ago after Israel went to war in the Gaza Strip and prepared to hold national elections that ultimately propelled Netanyahu to power for a second time. A last round was launched a year ago, with the ambitious aim of producing a framework accord for a peace deal, but broke down just three weeks later after an Israeli settlement construction slowdown expired.
Quartet envoy Tony Blair cautioned that the move at the U.N. must be followed by negotiations.
“You can pass whatever resolution you like at the United Nations, or at the Security Council, and it doesn’t actually deliver you a state,” Blair told BBC Radio. “And if you don’t have a negotiation, whatever you do at the U.N. is going to be deeply confrontational.”
The U.N. recognition bid has won Abbas broad popular support at home, but it is opposed by his main political rival, the Islamic militant Hamas movement that violently wrested control of Gaza in 2007.
Gaza’s Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, accused Abbas on Friday of relinquishing Palestinian rights by seeking recognition for a state in the pre-1967 borders. Hamas’ founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel and a state in all of the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, though some Hamas officials have suggested they would support a peace deal based on the 1967 lines.
“The Palestinian people do not beg the world for a state, and the state can’t be created through decisions and initiatives,” Haniyeh said. “States liberate their land first and then the political body can be established.”
—–
AP correspondent Tarek el-Tablawy contributed to this report from the United Nations.
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Comments (80)
bleuze
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:32pmNow we should get out of the UN and STOP providing funds to Palestine!
Report Post »paulusmaximus
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:51pmYES! we should!
Report Post »LibertarianForLife
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:10pmWhy, alls this controversy is about is who has the better imaginary friend.
Report Post »joe1234
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:20pm@libertarian….I imagine you have intelligence, until I read your posts…
Report Post »Steve
Posted on September 24, 2011 at 2:24amLibertarianForLife
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:10pm
Why, alls this controversy is about is who has the better imaginary friend.
The case for not electing Ron Paul.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:20pmKillem all an let the dogs sort em out
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:10pmDid they submit it scibed onto the side of a RPG?
Report Post »RLTW
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:13pmI think it was on the underbelly of a SW plane in AZ.
Report Post »Deb C
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:08pmI’m listening to Netanyahu – I think Abbas is not a good man.
Report Post »ApokTheGreat
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:14pmNetanyahu tore that terrorist apart.
Netanyahu offered to negotiate today with Abbas at the UN unadulterated. I wonder if Abbas will accept. If Abbas doesnt we know who is the good guy…Benjamin Netanyahu.
GOD BLESS ISRAEL and GOD HELP US ALL.
Report Post »Johnny916
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:07pm@ Christian: I‘m no expert like at the NT and I’m not a Rabbi. But I would play it safe and see what Judaism has to offer in the Hebrew bible.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:50pmStop interfering with them. And stop giving them money, for pete’s sake! Giving them money is interfering in their affairs of state too!
Get the heck out of the middle east once and for all!
Report Post »jacobstroubles
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:50pmAny vote from the general assembly is worthless…it means nothing.
Ohhh…but dont worry… big things are coming for them anyways…
Report Post »Psalms 83 war will start shortly…
The Church..the body of Christ is about to be called home..probably by next friday spet 30th.
The Tribulation will begin..and it’s gonna be really ugly…
ApokTheGreat
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:30pmI wouldnt set any dates brother. The Rapture could come any time from right now till the end of time (after the Tribulation). Although I agree it is so close I can smell it, and my spirit is rejoicing and troubled at the same time. I personally hold to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, but I am preparing for a 7 years stint for my family in hiding; As for me, I plan on a soapbox in the cities shouting the salvation of God even to death. My caution for all “pre-Tribbers” is that they dont curse God for lying about a pre-trib rapture. God did not lie, your interpretation was errant. We will see the Anti-Christ being revealed (2 Thess, Matthew 24, at the very least, and may see the time when the AC sets himself up as god in the Temple (which is 3.5 years into the tribulation).
Report Post »Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
ApokTheGreat
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 3:10pmThis is the timeline as indicated in 2 Thessalonians 2:
v6 The Holy Spirit is now restraining the A/C
v7 That role of the Holy Spirit will end
v8 A/C reveals himself
v9 Lying wonders and signs by the A/C
v10 The world is deceived
v11 God sends that strong delusion that people believe Satan’s lie (There are so many explanations of this, many along the lines of God removing discernment or since the restrainer role is over the truth suffers because humans are naturally evil and will bend even more towards evil without God’s interference towards righteousness)
v12 People who believe the lie are damned
Who the A/C is at this point I do not know for sure. What is strange is that Daniel 9 states that the A/C will confirm* a covenant with many for 7 years.
*H1396 גּבר gâbar (gaw-bar’)
A primitive root; to be strong; by implication to prevail, act insolently: – exceed, confirm, be great, be mighty, prevail, put to more [strength], strengthen, be stronger, be valiant.
What you are looking for is the 7-year treaty. More likely it will contain a clause for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
Report Post »I think the Magog war (Ezekiel 38) will come first. It is odd that the weapons give Israel enough fuel for 7 years, the Tribulation is 7 years, the Treaty is 7 years. The last 2 7′s are concurrent, so the 7 years of burning Magog’s weapons might also be concurrent with the tribulation.
So in my interpretation is: Ezekiel 38-39 –> Matthew 24/ 2Thess 2 –> D
santramir
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:46pmthanks God Jesus the Christ came down and spoke clear to this miserable world: “Jesus is the light, the truth, and the life.
Report Post »santramir
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:43pmnetanyahu saying “you must read the truth in the news” ha ha ha ha ha the truth in the jewish news ha ha ha ha, yeah that is why the balze is on the internet and not in the tv mainstream.
Report Post »txbigfoot
Posted on September 24, 2011 at 9:02amLOL at Santramir
Report Post »You take your meds?
WithOutGodWePerishAsARepublic
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:36pmWatch BO’s other hand… remember … the main goal is to destroy Israel !!!
Report Post »ApokTheGreat
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 4:10pmBeen wondering about Obama’s play too.
He only 4 options for this situation he set up: Vote No, Vote Yes, Veto, Abstain.
All four options lead to war.
No Vote = Palestine gets statehood, Israel is thrown under the bus and war erupts under the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine
Yes Vote= same as No Vote
Veto = Palestinians launch intifada and the Arabs join in and you have war…and most likely America gets hit hard with terrorist attacks
Abstain = same as Yes or No Votes.
What is the most tenable for Obama? Obama threatened to veto…but Bobo never keeps a promise. A veto for Bobo is unthinkable. He looses his Arabic face, his Saudi friends will hate him and his global plans he set in motion are destroyed. Remember Bobo thinks he is the A/C and is orchestrating these things. But he also needs re-elected too.
Report Post »A NO vote achieves Pal Statehood like Bobo wants and looks good to the Jewish voters, but Bobo looses big face to Arabs.
A YES vote is not realistic at all
Abstain gives Bobo an out without voicing any opinion (much like Bobo’s Congressional votes). This is the most likely route in my opinion. Bobo does not loose face in Arabia, nor is he seen as anti-Israel to a great extent to his Jewish voters.
ApokTheGreat
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:12pmIf the U.S. vetoes the statehood bid in the Security Council for full membership, then the Palestinians will go to the the General Assembly as ask for an upgrade from permanent observer to Non-Member Observer STATE. This will also give the legitimacy for the Arab nations to wage a war against Israel based on the “Responsibility to Protect Doctrine.” It is as good as having full membership if the idea is to attack Israel.
Report Post »So any outcome here is war and violence. Any action taken results in war and violence. But of course it depends if the Arabs are willing to attack Israel. But dogs will be dogs and they cant stop being dogs.
Paul Kersey
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:33pmIt is one thing for a member nation to become a terrorist state. It is quite another to allow a terrorist state to be granted member status.
Report Post »Tovia
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:27pmUS should STOP FUNDING THIS SHAM ORGANIZATION: “United Arabist Apartheid Islamic Nations”!
Glenn is right! “US OUT OF UN! UN OUT OF US”
Report Post »WithOutGodWePerishAsARepublic
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:23pmKeep Watch !!! BO’s other hand is moving … !!!!
Report Post »ConstitutionalPatriot
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:15pmIn truth, Obama isn’t against this. He wanted this, Who did POTUS call right after winning the election? The first leader was drum roll please….Mahmoud Abbas.
Does anyone really believe in meeting’s Obama told him NOT to do this??
Report Post »rpp
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:17pmWe are seeing the beginning of World War III.
Report Post »ConstitutionalPatriot
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:20pmOH RPP, you just scared the cr*p out of me… I just saw Obama pulling a FDR and getting re-elected only because we are in a World War.
Oh the humanity….
Report Post »Boydster
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:25pmYou know this is what I have said for over a year, look back in history as Beck does and you will see. Anytime we were in war the reigning president was re-elected. Not to mention how broke we will be, both in spirit, money, and divided. We will be looking to fight anything even ourselves.
Marxist lies,
Report Post »Our History cries,
The truth,
Open your eyes.
C.B.F.
mohavegreen
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:56pmIranian Factory Outlet for terrorism. Israel will promptly deep discount the store front out of business.
Report Post »eat-more-bacon-USA
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:53pmTerrorists.
Report Post »GaryInTheMiddle
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:48pmMurdering SOBs.
Report Post »curleyfry
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:46pmI thought the first part of becoming a state is that you had to be PEACEFUL!!!
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:45pmDo ‘em Israel, Jan 19 2012, do ‘em, once and for all, we got your back.
Do Egypt next
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:36pmDon’t give those worthless losers one once of sand.
Report Post »Nachum
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:30pmThe Obama White House did everything in their power to make this happen and then at the same time deny they did. The real issue, is how belligerent the countries around Israel have become and how much further they will go under Obama’s tenure. Look for some sort of major attempt to physically attack Israel before Obama’s term is over- especially if a Republican looks like he/she will win.
http://www.nachumlist.com/
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:24pmGet the un out of the USA and the USA out of the un. NOW!
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:29pmThat should b e a debate question…If it want already I missed last night.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:18pmAll the talking heads are saying this is irrelevant. Guess we will see…
Report Post »Johnny916
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:17pmBeing Jewish I’m always asked about the state of Israel, Palestine, Zionism, and what not involved with the current political issues in the Middle East. I’m not a religious Jew or a supporter of Zionism. With that said the best way to stop all these killings and wars is to find a peaceful solution. If that is possible.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:29pmJohnny, it will not be possible.
Report Post »Johnny916
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:32pmI agree with you on that. To much is up for stake in that little area. How can we stop this? to me we cannot.
Report Post »Chr1st14n
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:42pmthis whole thing between Palestine and Israel is in the books of the prophets and the new testament and it says what side will take over Jerusalem for a short period of time. that being Palestine.
and when they do the bible says for those who are in Judea to flee and don’t stop running.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:49pmOf course if you believe in a pre-trib rapture (I do but I do not want to turn this into an eschatological debate) there is a way out. Believe on Christ now or later, either way, you will believe. Why go through it?
Search Scripture.
Report Post »Johnny916
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:53pmAre you talking to me TT? I’m not religious so I am not interested in following this or that. But I have come across some material by Jews against Zionism. I would have to look it up later.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:04pmI’m sorry Johnny, sometimes I just cannot help myself. I was kind of completing the thought from Chr1st14n. I suppose in this case I should have remained silent as it is a can of worms. There is a lot of action in the middle east (and everywhere really) that matches with prophecy in both the OT and NT. Many Christians see the tribulation approaching fast. But we cannot know that for sure, it might be 3 or 3,000 more years.
Let me just say this Johnny; if these things do begin to happen turn to Scripture. It is your way out. People will be saved from Tribulation.
Report Post »Johnny916
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:10pmWell I do not know much about the before the Messianic age in Judaism but I will do my best to under my Jewish background from an Orthodox perspective.
Report Post »Chr1st14n
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:51pmsome rabbis acknowledge the book of Revelation as confirmation of what the old testament prophets and Torah say about the end times so I will include a few:
1- rebirth of Israel in ONE DAY. happened in 1948.
2 – return of the Hebrew language – prior to 1948 Hebrew was a dead language because when they where exiled the countries they where shipped off to would not allow them to speak Hebrew. Zephaniah 3:9
3 – return of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel, in 1984 operation Moses airlifted 8,000 Jews in ONE DAY. 1985 operation Joshua took out 800, in 1990′s operation Solomon got the finishing few thousands. Zephaniah 3:10-11
4-Russian Jews return to Israel. during from the 70′s till 2004; 127,113 Jews have returned to Israel from Russia. Jeremiah 23:7-8
5-increase of knowledge and travel, we live in the technological age and we can travel anywhere at any time in a matter of only hours or days. Daniel 12:4
6-the existance of a 200,000,000 man army in the east, no army in history has had this till the chinese army gained this size and has maintained it since the mid 1960′s; Revelation 9:167- Re development of the Roman Empire (this is the EU) Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 7
7-Rise of Russia, Ezekial 38 – God will defeat them in 1 day, currently Russia is flexing its muscles globaly, late august 2011 four Russian bombers where found doing routes over Europe.
I would list more but i am out of characters, Oil was also found as prophesied in Genesis and Deuteronomy a
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:29pmPeace is a cruel myth perpetuated by cowards and weak people. There will never be peace as long as the world is controlled by human beings. Conflict is necessary t human existence. It keeps our population in check, much like disease. It keeps us interested in life. Would you watch a movie or read a book that had no conflict? Conflict makes us strive to better ourselves. When we don’t have enough conflict in our lives we create it…See anarchists, hippies and such. Life is too easy so they manufacture problems to fight…Global warming, save the whales, free Palestine, etc….The fact is, it is time for some serious conflict to make up for lost time and bring balance to the population of earth. It is only natural.
Report Post »Chr1st14n
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:24pmyeahhh no.
Report Post »Steve
Posted on September 24, 2011 at 2:39amPeace is possible. All that needs to be done is for Israel to lay down their arms and allow Hamas to fulfill their charter.
Report Post »ACA
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:17pmThere is no peace in their hearts… only murder and destruction of Israel… where is the courage to call them out on this????
Report Post »rpp
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:19pmWhat they really want is war. Remember, they do not care if they are destroyed, as long as their enemy is destroyed as well.
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