<p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to present on Friday (today) to the UN Security Council a letter calling for UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital and for admission to the UN as a full member. <br />Talks with Israel were suspended a year ago because it refused to halt its colonisation of land Palestinians demand for their state and negotiate seriously. Abbas had no option but to adopt a new strategy. Independent legislator Rawia Shawwa from Gaza told Deccan Herald that the UN effort “is an important step late in the day...” She observed that Abbas has been negotiating with Israel for 18 years without “reaching anywhere. <br /><br />He was convinced that (the Oslo agreement of 1993) would secure statehood for us but he discovered it was not productive.”<br /><br /> The US and Europe responded to Abbas’ UN bid by exerting tremendous pressure on him to drop this approach. They want him to return to direct talks with Israel but have offered him no guarantees that Israel will negotiate seriously. Abbas insists that as a precondition to resuming talks, Israel must cease all construction in its colonies on occupied land and agree to negotiate on the basis of the 1967 ceasefire line. Abbas also demands a time frame of six months to a year for completion of negotiations. He is no longer prepared to talk endlessly without results.<br /><br />Change course<br /><br />The US and Europe have not only tried to convince Abbas to change course but have also exerted pressure on Security Council members not to back the Palestinian bid. If he does not secure support from nine members of the 15 member body, the bid will fail. <br /><br />Ahead of his address to the Council, Abbas garnered the backing of India, Lebanon, Brazil, Russia, China, Gabon and South Africa. He expected Nigeria to vote in favour but due to US and Israeli pressure it could abstain. The US, France, Britain and Germany have also pressed Portugal, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Colombia to either vote against or abstain in order to defeat the Palestinian petition without forcing the US to cast a veto, Washington’s ultimate weapon.<br /><br />The US and its allies have also tried to stall discussion of the Palestinian appeal with the aim of shelving it. This could increase Palestinian frustration and exacerbate tensions on the ground on the Israeli occupied territories, particularly if the right-wing Israeli government retaliates against the Palestinians for their UN bid. Abbas is prepared to give some time for the Council to act. If it fails to do so he has a fall-back strategy involving an appeal to the General Assembly, where the Palestinians can count on the support of 130 of the 193 members for recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and acceptance as a ‘non-member observer state,’ the operative word being ‘state.’ If successful, the borders of the Palestinian state would be delineated and Palestine could apply to the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli soldiers and settlers for illegally occupying and colonising their land and human rights violations. <br /><br />A recent poll shows that 83 per cent of Palestinians believe the UN bid is a good idea although 78 per cent also admit Israel could retaliate by making daily life more difficult. Many Palestinians are convinced Abbas’ new strategy will not work. Salem Muhammad, a jeweller in Ramallah, the Palestinian administrative centre, remarked that “I don’t think it will make any difference. Abbas is trying to get UN membership but the west and the US don’t want us to have a country.”<br /><br />George, a money changer in occupied East Jerusalem, dismissed the exercise. “What kind of state will we have. We have no control of our borders, air and water, the essentials. We have no ports and airports, Israel controls everything.” By contrast Israeli left-wing activist Jeff Halper argued that the bid is a “game changer...We cannot return to the old dynamics. The status quo is over.” In his view, recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines “really strengthens the Palestinian negotiating position.”<br /><br />Abbas’ rival, Hamas, which rules Gaza, opposes the UN campaign but is prepared to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Hamas, however, refuses to recognise Israel which is calling upon Abbas to recognise it as the ‘state of the Jewish people’ or a ‘jewish state,’ a demand Palestinians reject.<br /><br />If the US torpedoes a Security Council resolution proposing recognition and full UN membership and the General Assembly fails to grant Palestinians non-member state status, Sheerin al-Araj, a municipal councillor in the west village of Walaja, asserted, “This will lead to violence. We will see that the whole international community is ganging up on Palestinians again.”</p>
<p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to present on Friday (today) to the UN Security Council a letter calling for UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital and for admission to the UN as a full member. <br />Talks with Israel were suspended a year ago because it refused to halt its colonisation of land Palestinians demand for their state and negotiate seriously. Abbas had no option but to adopt a new strategy. Independent legislator Rawia Shawwa from Gaza told Deccan Herald that the UN effort “is an important step late in the day...” She observed that Abbas has been negotiating with Israel for 18 years without “reaching anywhere. <br /><br />He was convinced that (the Oslo agreement of 1993) would secure statehood for us but he discovered it was not productive.”<br /><br /> The US and Europe responded to Abbas’ UN bid by exerting tremendous pressure on him to drop this approach. They want him to return to direct talks with Israel but have offered him no guarantees that Israel will negotiate seriously. Abbas insists that as a precondition to resuming talks, Israel must cease all construction in its colonies on occupied land and agree to negotiate on the basis of the 1967 ceasefire line. Abbas also demands a time frame of six months to a year for completion of negotiations. He is no longer prepared to talk endlessly without results.<br /><br />Change course<br /><br />The US and Europe have not only tried to convince Abbas to change course but have also exerted pressure on Security Council members not to back the Palestinian bid. If he does not secure support from nine members of the 15 member body, the bid will fail. <br /><br />Ahead of his address to the Council, Abbas garnered the backing of India, Lebanon, Brazil, Russia, China, Gabon and South Africa. He expected Nigeria to vote in favour but due to US and Israeli pressure it could abstain. The US, France, Britain and Germany have also pressed Portugal, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Colombia to either vote against or abstain in order to defeat the Palestinian petition without forcing the US to cast a veto, Washington’s ultimate weapon.<br /><br />The US and its allies have also tried to stall discussion of the Palestinian appeal with the aim of shelving it. This could increase Palestinian frustration and exacerbate tensions on the ground on the Israeli occupied territories, particularly if the right-wing Israeli government retaliates against the Palestinians for their UN bid. Abbas is prepared to give some time for the Council to act. If it fails to do so he has a fall-back strategy involving an appeal to the General Assembly, where the Palestinians can count on the support of 130 of the 193 members for recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and acceptance as a ‘non-member observer state,’ the operative word being ‘state.’ If successful, the borders of the Palestinian state would be delineated and Palestine could apply to the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli soldiers and settlers for illegally occupying and colonising their land and human rights violations. <br /><br />A recent poll shows that 83 per cent of Palestinians believe the UN bid is a good idea although 78 per cent also admit Israel could retaliate by making daily life more difficult. Many Palestinians are convinced Abbas’ new strategy will not work. Salem Muhammad, a jeweller in Ramallah, the Palestinian administrative centre, remarked that “I don’t think it will make any difference. Abbas is trying to get UN membership but the west and the US don’t want us to have a country.”<br /><br />George, a money changer in occupied East Jerusalem, dismissed the exercise. “What kind of state will we have. We have no control of our borders, air and water, the essentials. We have no ports and airports, Israel controls everything.” By contrast Israeli left-wing activist Jeff Halper argued that the bid is a “game changer...We cannot return to the old dynamics. The status quo is over.” In his view, recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines “really strengthens the Palestinian negotiating position.”<br /><br />Abbas’ rival, Hamas, which rules Gaza, opposes the UN campaign but is prepared to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Hamas, however, refuses to recognise Israel which is calling upon Abbas to recognise it as the ‘state of the Jewish people’ or a ‘jewish state,’ a demand Palestinians reject.<br /><br />If the US torpedoes a Security Council resolution proposing recognition and full UN membership and the General Assembly fails to grant Palestinians non-member state status, Sheerin al-Araj, a municipal councillor in the west village of Walaja, asserted, “This will lead to violence. We will see that the whole international community is ganging up on Palestinians again.”</p>