Israeli diplomats are once again pushing vigorously today following the news that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), frustrated by the lack of peace talks, will go to the United Nations in September seeking recognition as a member state.
Israeli officials have been railing against the notion of statehood for years, insisting it poses a grave threat to Israel and that the Palestinians are “not ready” to be independent of the military occupation. In recent months they have insisted Palestinian statehood would end all peace talks.
Which is an increasingly meaningless threat, given the peace talks have been stalled for nearly a year and Israeli officials have repeatedly ruled out returning to talks over various other perceived slights in the meantime. Palestinian officials, rather, say they believe statehood would make talks easier, as the two sides would go into the matter on a more equal footing.
This assumes, of course, that statehood is even possible. Israel is pushing for opposition to the statehood, and while they don’t seem to be making much progress it seems a good bet that the Obama Administration will veto it. Whether it is even theoretically possible to override that veto remains a subject of serious debate.
And when do you think the Palestinians will be ready for statehood, Mr. Netanyahu? How many more years????
Let's not forget that Israel owes its very existence to the ill-conceived UNpartitioning of the Palestinian homeland back in 1948. Remember how the UN had apportioned 55% of historic Palestine to make way for Israel. True, Palestinians rejected the idea. And, who can blame them for wanting to retain their home from being parceled away by foreign forces. Today, Israel refuses to a withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 borders that successive UN resolutions require them to do. The 1967 borders would leave Palestinians with just 18% of their homeland. If Palestinians are willing to accept the 1967 borders which gives them a truncated homeland that is less than one-half of what the UN Plan had apportioned them in 1948, the people of the US and Israel should salute them for their sacrifice and welcome the move. It's about time Americans got their history right – and seize this historic opportunity for peace. Or, will Netanyahu again tell them what to do?
Wrong. All the land west of the Jordan River comprises of 23% of historic Palestine. Trans-Jordan was also part of Palestine. And you ask, "will Netanyahu again tell them what to do?." Yet, in your response, you believe the UN has the power or should have the power to tell countries what to do. Any attempt by the UN to force any Palestinian state on Israel is a form of imperialism. The UN is a foreign force to the land. Why do you seemingly oppose foreign imperialism on the one hand, yet support it when it is against Israel? And if you ask me, I don't think Israel's legitimacy to exist comes from the UN. I believe it comes from historic grounds. The Jewish people are the only people to this day that have ever exercised national sovereignty in that land. There was and still is no unified Palestinian nation today. Point being, all imperialism should be condemned, even when it is against Israel.
Well, you can't have the cake and eat it too! If the UN resolutions smack of imperialism, then the very concept of a partitioning of historic Palestine to create Israel no longer stands. You seem to subscribe to the mythical claims of zionists and have no qualms about the ethnic cleansing of peoples from their ancestral land! Hello, the Holocaust was a European event; it's redemption should have been there – not foisted on hapless peoples who had no hand in the pogram. Time we got the story straight, wouldn't you say?
I'm starting to think that if Israel and America have their way, the Palestinians won't be allowed to have a state until there is no land left for them to have one on.
Technically, any Palestinian state belongs in present day Jordan, where about 80% of the people there are Palestinian, yet are discriminated against by the Hashemite regime. It's very unfortunate that no one talks about that. That's where discussion of a Palestinian state should belong.
Jason: Regarding a Security Council veto by the US of the statehood resolution, this is problematic. According to intl. legal expert Francis A Boyle, a US veto "is clearly illegal because it would violate a solemn and binding pledge given by the United States not to veto States applying for U.N. Membership. Someday, Palestine shall become a full-fledged U.N. Member State."