Palestinian UN bid for statehood: live coverage

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu address the UN general assembly – live • Read a summary of Palestine’s bid for UN statehood 12.49pm: Abbas makes his plea for Palestine to be recognised as a full member of the UN. “This is a copy of the application,” he says, interrupted by long applause. “I call upon the Secretary-General to transmit our proposal to the Security Council.” “Your support for the recognition of the state of Palestine is the greatest contribution to the state of peace in the region,” Abbas tells the leaders in the general assembly. “I hope we shall not have to wait for long.” That’s it, Abbas finishes after 35 minutes. Israel’s delegation declined to join in the standing ovation and applause for Abbas as he steps down from the podium. 12.47pm: “We have one goal: to be. And we shall be,” says Abbas, winning a loud round of applause. 12.43pm: “Enough, enough, enough,” says Abbas. “It is time for the Palestinian people to gain their freedom and their independence”: The time has come for the Palestinian spring, the time for independence. The time has come for our men, women and children to have normal lives. For them to be able to sleep without fear of what the next day will bring. 12.39pm: Finally, Abbas gets around to mentioning the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment of truth … we are the last people in the world to be occupied. Will the world allows this to continue by the state of Israel? 12.35pm: The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, is disappointed by Abbas’s effort : “So far, this is a fairly routine speech by Abbas. Little by way of soaring rhetoric.” Calling the speech “ill-chosen,” Foreign Policy editor Blake Hounshell says : “This is not a speech that will give Israeli doves much to go on.” 12.33pm: “Our efforts are not aimed at isolating Israel or delegitimising it, “says Abbas. “I am here to say, on behalf of the Palestinian people … we extend our hands to the Israeli government and the Israeli people.” He continues: “Let us build the bridges of dialogue instead of checkpoints.” 12.29pm: Abbas is now listing the conditions for continued negotations, including a call for Israel to cease all settlement building as a pre-condition. 12.22pm: “These are but a few examples of the policy of the Israeli colonial occupation,” says Abbas, who says the sttlements will “destroy the chances of a two state solution”: This settlement policy threatens to also undermine the structure of the Palestine national authority and its very existence. 12.18pm: Abbas now goes into greater detail about Israel’s settlement building, particularly in the Arab parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank, and describes it (or his translator does) as an attempt to establish “a fait accompli “. Only CNN of the US news networks has stayed with live coverage of Abbas’s speech this far, although Fox News and MSNBC are giving analysis rather than carrying the live feed from the UN. 12.15pm: Abbas says that a year ago there were high hopes for a peace agreement. “We entered those negotiations with open hearts and attentive ears,” Abbas said. “But these negotiations broke down just weeks after they were launched.” We did not leave a door locked or path to be taken … we positively considered the various ideas and initiatives presented by parties. But all of these ideas were repeatedly smashed agaisnt a rock by Israeli negotiations. 12.12pm: Abbas starts off with congratulations to South Sudan for its admission to full UN statehood. “The question of Palestine is intricately linked with the United Nations,” Abbas says, plunging into the issue at hand. 12.09pm: Now it’s Mahmoud Abbas’s turn to take the podium before the UN general assembly. A big round of applause greets him. 12.07pm: Jim Jordan, chair of the influential Republican Study Commitee in Congress, backs the Obama administration’s position on the Palestinian statehood bid: The United States is correct to block the Palestinian Authority’s effort to pursue statehood through the United Nations. It is important that American leaders, from the Congress to the State Department to the White House, send a clear message to the world that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally Israel. 11.56am: Chris McGreal watches Mahmoud Abbas hand over the letter to Ban Ki-moon at the UN: Abbas walked in to room with Ban. They stood, shook hands, posed for photos. Then Abbas handed over the application in a large white envelope with the Palestinian Authority crest on it. They shook hands again and that was it: Palestine made its bid to become a member of the United Nations. Abbas and Ban sat down at a table with their officials for a short discussion. Abbas is to speak to the general assembly shortly, as soon as the president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, has finished. Sargsyan is discussing relations with Turkey, another low-point in international relations. There’s a live video feed at the UN website here . 11.49am: Harriet Sherwood, in Ramallah for the Guardian, reports on an unfortunate accident: As crowds gathered in Ramallah’s Manara Square, the celebratory event got off to an unfortunate start when the large screen on which people will watch Mahmoud Abbas’s speech fell forward on top of Palestinian singers who were mid-performance. Three were hit on the head and taken to hospital in neck braces. 11.46am: This just in: Mahmoud Abbas has handed over the letter requesting a UN vote on Palestinian statehood recognition to Ban Ki-moon. Abbas is expected to speak to the general assembly shortly. 11.30am: Anne-Marie Slaughter – the former director of policy planning for the US state department in the Obama administration – regards the US veto of Palestianian statehood in apocalyptic terms in the FT (subscription only): So, fine, let the US issue its veto. Then what? The move is likely to trigger violence in Gaza and possibly the West Bank; Israeli countermeasures risk igniting more anti-Israel demonstrations across the Middle East, particularly in Egypt, and possibly in Syria. In both cases a direct clash between the Israeli and Egyptian or Syrian soldiers in the Sinai or the Golan Heights is all too possible, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Beyond Israel’s immediate neighbourhood the situation is just as bad. Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal has already said that a US veto would trigger a Saudi re-evaluation of the extent to which it will work with the US, particularly with respect to Iraq and possibly Yemen too. Saudi opposition to the Shia government in Baghdad would destabilise Iraq, and heighten tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The beleaguered Yemeni president is currently in Riyadh; Saudi refusal to co-ordinate its diplomacy in Yemen with the US would make it nearly impossible to resolve the current impasse. These are threats growing daily on the horizon. The move from threat to confrontation may seem unlikely, but remember the inexorable, deadly sequence of mobilisation that turned the assassination of an Austrian archduke into first world war. These things can get out of hand quickly. 11.16am: Quartet envoy Tony Blair told the BBC today that he’s not a supporter of the statehood bid: You can pass whatever resolution you like at the United Nations, or at the Security Council, and it doesn’t actually deliver you a state. And if you don’t have a negotiation, whatever you do at the UN is going to be deeply confrontational. Blair seems to think that statehood recognition somehow precludes peace negotiations, which is not necessarily the case. 11.08am: The Israeli Defence Forces news desk has issued a statement confirming the death in Qusra on the West Bank reported earlier today. The IDF statement is headlined “Events Following Violent Riot near Qusra”: A mutual rock hurling incident that occurred earlier this afternoon between Israeli civilians and approximately 300 Palestinians near the village of Qusra incited a violent riot, during which Palestinians hurled rocks at security personnel. During the riot, security personnel used riot dispersal means and eventually, live fire. As a result, Palestinian sources reported that three rioters were injured. Initial reports suggest that one of them was wounded and subsequently, passed away. The IDF and the Palestinian Security Authority is jointly investigating the incident. 11am: The meeting between Abbas and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been brought forward – so that Abbas is expected to deliver requesting statehood recognition very shortly. 10.46am: The Guardian Chris McGreal is at the UN in New York City – and he reports that Mahmoud Abbas is to very shortly submit the letter effectively requesting recognition by the UN security council of Palestine as a state to Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s Secretary-General, before making his speech to the UN general assembly pleading the case: No one expects the Palestinians to win in the security council because the US has said it will veto the request even if the Palestinians get the necessary nine votes in favour – and it looks as if they’ll fall short after an intense American campaign to get countries such as Portugal and Bosnia to abstain. In any case, there is unlikely to be a vote any time soon. But Abbas can claim a victory of sorts at the end of a week that has seen a dramatic shift in the diplomatic ground in the Palestinians’ favour. His resistance to pressure not to submit the request has prompted the most serious attempt to revive the peace process in years as Washington, London and Paris sought to avoid a showdown in the security council that could severely damage their standing in other parts of the Middle East, particularly for Britain and France which are heavily involved in Libya. The US’s claim to dominate mediation has been damaged by its unrelenting opposition to the Palestinian move and Obama’s astonishingly pro-Israel speech to the UN earlier this week. That has provided a chink for the Europeans and Arabs to press for a greater role. Certainly it has exposed Washington as a partisan player. 10.35am: Here’s a brief summary of the background to today’s UN speeches by Abbas and Netanyahu: • Palestinians are to ask for full membership status at the UN, on the grounds that decades of negotiations with Israel have failed to gain it statehood • The move is opposed by Israel and the US, who maintain that the only way to create a fully-fledged Palestinian state is through negotiation • The US has pledged to veto any Palestinian bid for full statehood through the UN Security Council • The Palestinians could opt to go through the UN general assembly – but the assembly only has the power to upgrade Palestine’s status from “entity” to a “non-member state” • Palestine’s improved diplomatic status could allow it to take Israel to the International Criminal Court 10.24am: The Associated Press reports that a Palestinian has been shot dead in a clash with Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank: The incident, witnessed by an AP reporter, began when some 200 settlers burned and uprooted trees Friday near the village of Qusra. Villagers threw stones at the settlers. Israeli troops arrived and fired tear gas, then live rounds. Settlers also fired their weapons. The man killed was identified as 35-year-old Issam Badran. A Palestinian medic says he was shot in the neck. Another Palestinian was wounded and taken by the army. 10.11am: According to Reuters, there appear to be three possible outcomes to the Palestinian plan to seek full UN membership: a miracle, a muddle and a mess: The miracle would be if diplomats dream up a document that may persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to talk peace after nearly a year of impasse and acrimony. The muddle would be if the Palestinian letter requesting full membership simply sits in the UN Security Council’s inbox, ushering in a period of limbo while diplomats try to coax the parties into negotiations. The mess would occur if violence erupts after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hands over the letter, throwing the diplomatic efforts to the winds. 10am ET / 3pm BST: Welcome to live coverage of addresses by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the UN general assembly in New York – with Abbas expected to argue the case for recognition of Palestine as a state. Abbas is expected to begin speaking sometime after 11.30am ET (4.30pm BST), with Netanyahu to follow in the afternoon, at around 1pm ET (6pm BST). The central issue for both leaders will be Palestine’s admission as a full member state under UN rules. Here’s how the Guardian’s correspondents in New York and Jerusalem previewed today’s actions and potential consequences: The Palestinian leader is expected to hand over a letter asking for Palestine to join the UN as a state shortly before he addresses the general assembly to plead the case for admission. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is scheduled to speak shortly afterwards. He is likely to denounce the Palestinian move as destabilising and a threat to the peace process – even though that is largely dormant. We’ll be providing live coverage of both speeches here, as well as reaction and feedback from around the world – including in Palestine’s West Bank and in East Jerusalem, where thousands are expected to gather after Friday prayers. United Nations Palestinian territories Israel Binyamin Netanyahu Mahmoud Abbas United States Richard Adams guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.