WEST BANK: Abbas chairs PLO meeting as hundreds march in support of UN statehood b

Record ID: 561921

  • Title: WEST BANK: Abbas chairs PLO meeting as hundreds march in support of UN statehood b
  • Date: 9th September 2011
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 24th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB22S09WAAXG5G6G7ZADM21UWJ
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Palestinians marched in the West Bank on Thursday (September 8) to launch a campaign calling on the United Nations to grant them full member state status.
    As the march moved through Ramallah, the PLO Executive Committee convened in what will be the last meeting ahead of the planned move to go to the United Nations General Assembly after September 20th. The meeting was chaired by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
    Hundreds marched to mark the launch of the National Campaign, aimed at having a popular movement supporting the United Nations bid.
    Supporters of the UN bid handed a letter to the UN representative in Ramallah calling for UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon to support the Palestinian bid and ease the road to full membership for Palestine within the United Nations.
    "We came here to hand a letter to the representative of the General Secretary Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. In order to express our intention and desire as a people to have a state that is a full member in the United Nations. We have been living under 63 years of oppression and occupation, this is a very long period we want to stop this suffering through ending the occupation. We also want to announce the launch of the national campaign, which includes many activities throughout the nation and all the districts," Abdallah Abu Rahmeh a national campaign organiser said.
    The United States, Israel's closest ally, opposes the Palestinian U.N. initiative on the grounds that it is unhelpful to its Middle East diplomacy, which is still focused on bringing about a resumption of face-to-face peace talks.
    U.S. opposition in the Security Council will thwart any Palestinian bid for full U.N. membership, though the Palestinians could still secure an upgrade in their status to a "non-member state" by presenting a General Assembly resolution.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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