MIDEAST-PALESTINIANS/UNITED NATIONS Palestinian statehood bid to be presented to the U.N. Security Council

Record ID: 338476

  • Title: MIDEAST-PALESTINIANS/UNITED NATIONS Palestinian statehood bid to be presented to the U.N. Security Council
  • Date: 17th December 2014
  • Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 17, 2014) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEORGE GIACAMAN, POLITICAL SCIENCE EXPERT FROM BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "This is not the end of the story as far as the Palestinians are concerned. One has to keep in mind that going to the Security Council has been from a Palestinian point of view, given their plan, only as a first step. The next s
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA27E2GYB8YF64H7S8WEIDV7NL7
  • Story Text: EDIT CONTAINS ORIGINAL 4:3 MATERIAL
    The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday (December 17) prepared to present a draft resolution with the help of Jordan to the 15-member Security Council, calling for Israeli occupation of Palestinian land to end by November 2016.
    The United States, which has a veto at the Security Council, has already indicated it finds the timeline in the Palestinian proposal unacceptable.
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday (December 16) the United States had made "no determinations" about any possible U.N. Security Council resolutions to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday (December 15) that he had sought reassurances from Kerry that Washington would block separate efforts by Palestinians and Europeans to set a time frame for a Palestinian statehood.
    After meeting Netanyahu in Rome, Kerry held talks with European counterparts from France, Britain and Germany in Paris, and later discussed the moves with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and officials from the Arab League in London.
    The Palestinians need nine of the 15 votes in the Security Council to pass the resolution, which would force the United States to decide whether or not to veto it.
    In 2012, the Palestinians' status was upgraded to a non-member state in the United Nations General Assembly, where no country has veto power.
    The upgrade came after an attempt to secure full U.N. membership failed because of U.S. resistance in the Security Council, where Washington has made clear it would use its veto power to block the Palestinian bid.
    "The attempt, in other words, is to try to internationalize the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in so far as possible. This is the over-all aim of the Palestinian Authority. The other aspect has to do with internal Palestinian public opinion which puts a lot of pressure, is putting a lot of pressure on the Palestinian Authority to try to bring about some change in the status quo that Palestinian cannot bear for various reasons because primarily the occupation continues," said Palestinian political science expert George Giacaman.
    Referring to the possibility of a United States veto in the Security Council, Giacaman said:
    "This is not the end of the story as far as the Palestinians are concerned. One has to keep in mind that going to the Security Council has been from a Palestinian point of view, given their plan, only as a first step. The next step would be after that, no matter what happens in the Security Council, is to apply for membership in various councils, committees of the United Nations and these will also not be welcomed by Israel. In fact, Israel most likely will take some steps as a form of punishment for the Palestinian Authority."
    "We are at a very difficult and critical moment, that the political vacuum that exists now and has existed at least since January 2014 after the failure of the efforts of Secretary Kerry, ultimately will lead to some conflagration, some form of conflict on the ground. Everybody understands that," he added.
    Also on Wednesday, voting was expected by EU lawmakers in Strasbourg on a non-binding resolution that stopped short of proposing a joint motion urging EU members to recognise a state of Palestine, settling instead on a compromise resolution that peace talks should progress.
    The increasing pressure by the Palestinians and Europeans comes as Israel prepares for elections in March.
    U.S.-brokered peace negotiations with Israel, led by Kerry, collapsed in April as Israel has suspended talks with the Palestinians in response to President Mahmoud Abbas's unexpected unity pact with the rival Islamist Hamas group.
    Since then, Palestinians have made unilateral efforts at the U.N. to form their own state in the occupied West Bank and in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
    Netanyahu has said rocket fire from the Gaza Strip during a 50-day war with Hamas militants in July and August highlighted the risks Israel could face in handing over more Palestinian territory.
    In Jerusalem and the West Bank, violence has surged in recent weeks because of a dispute over access to a holy site in an Israeli-annexed part of the city.
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