After failing to achieve full-fledged statehood recognition last year, the Palestinians are now looking to escalate their United Nations status to a non-member state via the UN General Assembly. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday he is expecting a vote that will upgrade their UN position “in less than a month or a month and a half.” Abbas’ comments were reported by the Ma’an News Agency.
The confident declaration from Abbas comes despite plans from the US to discourage Europe from supporting the Palestinian move. The UK’s The Guardian reported that the US has sent out a memorandum to European nations urging them not to endorse the UN step.
It also warned of financial sanctions on the Palestinians if they receive the UN status upgrade. The US is limited to diplomatic efforts to stifle such a Palestinian bid, since in General Assembly there is no veto power. However, unlike the powerful UN Security Council, the status upgrade would not be as significant.
The Guardian reported that the US is arguing such a move would harm efforts to renew peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians suspended buy viagra without consultation peace talks in 2010 and efforts to resume them have proven unsuccessful.
According to The Guardian, one other area that did concern the US and could turn into a diplomatic weapon against Israel is the prospect that the UN status upgrade could allow the Palestinians to lodge complaints against Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Palestinian and other groups opposed to Israel have attempted to target Israel through legal means in the UK and elsewhere, although to this point they have not been able to do so in the ICC.
The Palestinians attempted to achieve full UN statehood member status last year, but the bid was buried in UN bureaucracy. A UN General Assembly bid, by contrast, would net a scaled down result, but would be far more likely to succeed since Arab states and their allies comprise a significant voting block in the veto-less ballot.
Israel has warned in the past that granting the Palestinians diplomatic victories on paper outside the peace process will only harden Palestinian positions in negotiations and make a true peace deal even more difficult to reach.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, October 2, 2012)