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| Mahmoud Abbas and Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon |
Israel has responded by ceasing its transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, the governing body of the West Bank. Israel has also decided to go ahead and start building more settlements on the West Bank in an apparent protest against the UN decision. The Israel government believes that the only way Palestine can achieve statehood is through negotiations with Israel, and they find Mahmoud Abbas's request to be recognized as a state in the UN to be disingenuous to the accords made between Israel and Palestine in the 90s. Abbas says he wants to use their new status to not delegitimitize Israel but to help facilitate negotiations. The upgrade also gives Abbas access to the International Criminal Court, which could allow the PA to file war crime charges against Israel and charges against Israel building improper settlements.
In other news, samples are being taken from former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's body to see if he was poisoned. If you recall, Arafat of the PLO and Yitzhak Rabin of Israel signed the Oslo Accords with Bill Clinton in the early 90s and Arafat and Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize for the accords. The suspicion of poisoning arises from high levels of a toxic radioactive isotope called polonium-210 found on some of the clothes Arafat wore before he died. Russian KGB agent (Committee for State Security in Russian, basically Russian secret agents) Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned and killed by polonium-210 in 2006.
6 comments:
Thank you, Wyatt, for a post about this event!
This is definitely a big step in Palestine's efforts to gain statehood. Previously, in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, Israel had maintained the dominant upper-hand with their superior military and sovereignty. However, with Palestine's military advances (such as Hamas' capability of launching rockets that reach farther distances) and foreign support (demonstrated by this promotion in the UN) is creating more of a level field between the two.
My only concern is Israel's reaction to the UN vote; Hamas and Israel had just agreed to a ceasefire after days of attacks that left more than 150 people dead, and we certainly don't want to see this treaty be broken after less than two weeks of it being signed.
I'm also interested to know if the United States takes any actions in response to this vote. As a strong ally of Israel, the United States obviously did not vote in favor of Palestine's promotion...
I am really excited that this statehood issue is finally moving somewhere other than violence. Although I am Jewish and I have relatives in Israel as well as the West Bank, I fully support Palestinian statehood. However, the biggest issue in the conflict is who is going to end up with Jerusalem. This city is one of the holiest for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. There is going to be unrest from the party that does not end up controlling it. I personally think palestine and Isreal can split the new city as they do now, but the old city should be a neutral territory. Don't mean to offend anyone else's beliefs, but that is how I think peice can be achieved.
I do not think this development should be viewed as having any positive effect in the short-term. The UN resolution/declaration is essentially meaningless. What will grant Palestine a true statehood (it is nice to have the recognition of other countries, but I think the most important part to a country is the physical power over the territory it claims). With Israel pissed off, setting up new settlements in the West Bank, a true statehood for the Palestinians will become more remote. After all, Israel would be more inclined to keep the status quo as it will become more difficult for the Israeli government to back off with the settlements growing in number. Right now, West Bank and the Gaza Strip are ruled by two separate political entities. As a result, I think that the Palestinians, although deserving a statehood in all aspects, are not quite ready yet. In order to negotiate with Israel (the real step to a solution), the Palestinians have to resolve their own differences first. Only when all the Palestinians have reached a consensus can they reach another consensus with the Israelis.
Although it may not signify a monumental leap for Palestine, I do not think that the UN declaration is meaningless. Any step towards national recognition is a step forward, as it shows that Palestine has the potential to achieve statehood. Israel's reaction to this development is to be expected, but perhaps Israel will become more willing to negotiate once it overcomes the initial disappointment of seeing Palestine's advancement. I am glad to see development surrounding this topic. I hope that it continues until a resolution is finally created.
I have to agree with Kevin in that I am skeptical of the significance of the UN's decision to advance Palestine's status from "non-member observer entity" to "non-member observer state." Although I closely follow foreign affairs, I have never participated in MUN, so I may be a bit hazy in regard to technicalities. I understand that the new status “implicitly recognizes Palestinian statehood”... but what are the real world implications? Netanyahu has promptly (a day after the UN vote) decided to authorize the construction of new homes in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem, which this article states could "cut links between the northern and southern West Bank, seriously damaging prospects for a viable Palestinian state." It seems to me that this action illustrates the realistic irrelevance of recognizing Palestine as a "non-member observer state" as opposed to a "non-member observer entity."
I have to agree with Eli and Paniz. The path to recognition and peace will have to be one that is travelled slowly and carefully with the history between these two forces. While I see Kevin's point--negotiation is critical and it is difficult to do so when one is not backed by a united group--I think that the constant battle has gone on for too long, and it is high time that it stop. However seemingly insignificant or imperfectly timed the first steps may seem, they need to begin.
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