Abbas defies US with formal call for Palestinian recognition by UN

Palestinian leader appeals to conscience of world as Netanyahu rejects claim problem lies with Israel Mahmoud Abbas has formally asked the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state, defying intense US pressure to abandon the move with a powerful appeal to the conscience of the world to recognise that the Palestinian people are entitled to their own “Arab spring”. Abbas said in a speech to the UN general assembly on Friday, greeted with extended clapping and cheers, that his request for recognition of a Palestinian state on land occupied by Israel since 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital came because of the failure of nearly two decades of peace talks. He blamed that failure on Israel, particularly its continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territory. “I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership of the United Nations and our admission as a full member state,” he said. “At a time when the Arab people affirm their quest for democracy – the Arab spring – the time is now for the Palestinian spring, the time for independence. “It is a moment of truth and my people are waiting to hear the answer of the world. Will it allow Israel to continue its occupation, the only occupation in the world?” The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, responded in his speech by saying he sought a “just and lasting peace” with the Palestinians. He attacked the UN as the “theatre of the absurd”. “Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon chairs the UN security council. A terror organisation presides over the body entrusted with world security. You couldn’t make this stuff up,” he said. Netanyahu dismissed Abbas’s assertion that he is desperate for a negotiated settlement. “The Palestinians want a state without peace,” he said. “You shouldn’t let that happen.” Abbas submitted the request for the security council to admit Palestine as a full member state to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, shortly before his speech. But the security council is unlikely to act soon, in part because the Palestinian leader has privately agreed for a vote to be deferred while fresh attempts are made to revive the peace process. Abbas resisted intense pressure by the US, which said it would veto the application, not to submit the request. Washington, Paris and London were keen to avoid a vote that would embarrass them in the rest of the Middle East. But the Palestinian leader said he had come to the UN because the existing American-dominated peace process to end the “colonial military occupation” had failed and a new approach was required. “It is neither possible, nor practical, nor acceptable to return to conducting business as usual, as if everything is fine,” he said. Abbas said that Palestinian efforts to reach an agreement had been “repeatedly smashed against the rock of the positions of the Israeli government”. In particular, he blamed the continued construction of Jewish settlements, which have doubled in size since the 1993 Oslo peace accords. “The occupation is racing against time to redraw the borders on our land according to what it wants and to impose a fait accompli on the ground that changes the realities and that is undermining the realistic potential for the existence of the state of Palestine,” he said. “This policy will destroy the chances of achieving a two-state solution upon which there is international consensus, and here I caution aloud: this settlement policy threatens to also undermine the structures of the Palestinian Authority and even end its existence.” Abbas said he was committed to a negotiated solution and prepared to return to the negotiating table immediately if settlement construction is halted. He called for new talks with “clear parameters” and a specific timetable. “When we bring our plight and our case to this influential podium, it is a confirmation of our reliance on the political and diplomatic option,” he said. “Our efforts are not aimed at isolating Israel or delegitimising it; rather we want to gain legitimacy for the cause of the people of Palestine.” In an uncompromising speech, Netanyahu rejected Abbas’s assertion that the problem lies with Israel. He said calls for the Jewish state to make a sweeping peace offer had been answered, only to be met with rejection and terrorist attacks by the Palestinians. He said that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and the closure of its settlements there, had brought not peace but war. “The Palestinians should first make peace with Israel and then get their state.” Abbas’s request for statehood came at the end of a week that has seen a dramatic shift in the diplomatic ground in the Palestinians’ favour even though their request to the security council is likely to fail. While Abbas has climbed down from an immediate confrontation by agreeing not to press hard for a swift vote, some senior Palestinian officials and European diplomats believe he may have won a significant victory because the US grip on the oversight of the peace process, which has been decidedly in Israel’s favour, has been weakened and other countries are now pressing to force the pace of peace negotiations. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, pressed the Palestinians to take their request to the UN general assembly, which has the power to grant observer status. Other figures, including the former US president Jimmy Carter, have also urged Abbas to follow that route. But the Palestinian leadership has said it will hold back from the general assembly for now because it does not want anyone to think it is not serious about seeking full UN membership through the security council, even though it is far from certain to win the necessary nine votes even without facing a US veto. The Palestinian leader privately retreated from his pledge to seek an immediate security council vote in part because he is no longer sure of winning the necessary majority, which would have given the Palestinians a moral victory even if the US used its veto. Palestinian sources say they believe Washington has bullied several security council members into withdrawing their support for the Palestinian move, including Portugal, by threatening to withhold support for its stricken economy, and Bosnia, over its opposition to Kosovo being admitted to the UN. Palestinian officials also believe Nigeria is no longer certain to vote in their favour. There are also questions about the position of Gabon and Colombia. One senior Palestinian official described the Americans as “playing a really nasty game”. Palestinian territories Mahmoud Abbas Israel US foreign policy United Nations Binyamin Netanyahu Middle East Chris McGreal 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.