Palestinians certain to win recognition as a state [View all]
Source: Chron
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinians are certain to win U.N. recognition as a state on Thursday but success could exact a high price: delaying an independent state of Palestine because of Israel's vehement opposition.
The United States, Israel's closest ally, mounted an aggressive campaign to head off the General Assembly vote, which the Palestinians view as a historic step in their quest for global recognition.
The Palestinians say they need U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967, to be able to resume negotiations with Israel — and statehood could also open the way for possible war crimes charges against the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court.
In a last-ditch move Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns made a personal appeal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013 if Abbas abandoned the effort to seek statehood. But the Palestinian leader refused, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Palestinians-certain-to-win-recognition-as-a-state-4075612.php
Historic, really. And while for most Americans these issues are somewhat abstract at best, this progression toward U.N. recognition as a state is bound to bring about a new phase in Middle East Peace negotiations...whether the United States and Israel are favorable to the move or not.
The world is bigger than the desires of the United States and Israel and that bigger world will have its say on the matter, tomorrow. Perhaps, if only as a reminder of same.
PB
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