By EMAN EL-SHENAWI
AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES
AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES
A date has been set for Palestinians to present their unilateral bid for membership of the United Nations, despite fears the move could lead to fresh conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and destabilize the whole region.
Palestinians will bid for UN statehood on September 20 and are adamant to press on with this “historic initiative,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Malki told AFP on Saturday, outlining details of the bid.
“Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will personally present the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon...at the opening of the sixty-sixth session,” on September 20, Mr. Malki said.
Palestinians will bid for UN statehood on September 20 and are adamant to press on with this “historic initiative,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Malki told AFP on Saturday, outlining details of the bid.
“Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will personally present the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon...at the opening of the sixty-sixth session,” on September 20, Mr. Malki said.
He added that President Abbas “will insist on this historic initiative and Ban Ki-moon will present the request to the Security Council.”
According to Mr. Malki, the date was set for September because Lebanon, which will hold the presidency of the Security Council, would be in a strong position to push the bid forward.
“Lebanon will hold the presidency of the Security Council in September and this will help us because the President of the council has special prerogatives, which is crucial,” Mr. Malki added.
But earlier this year, a senior Israeli politician said that the bid could spark new clashes.
“The possibility of a unilateral declaration, it could bring Palestinians out on to the streets for protests and, God forbid, it could lead to a conflict,” Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister who is an MP for the opposition Kadima party told AFP in June.
“Given the great changes in the region, it is very difficult to predict what will happen,” Mr. Mofaz said. “In this situation, an Israeli-Palestinian conflict could lead to a harsh reality.”
Direct peace talks between the two sides had ground to a halt in September last year when Israel failed to renew a partial freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Since then, the Palestinians have refused to return to talks as long as Israel builds on land they want for a future state.
The UN bid is seen by many as a strategic, diplomatic move to secure recognition of a Palestinian state along the borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, covering the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
Last month, envoys from the Middle East diplomatic Quartet met in Washington in one of the final attempts to avoid a major confrontation at the United Nations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
But the diplomatic Quartet failed to reach a breakthrough to revive peace talks and ended with no statement, leaving the Palestinians adamant to see through their UN bid, despite the opposition of both Israel and the United States who would like to reach to fresh negotiations.
Israel wants to keep sovereignty over east Jerusalem as well as large areas of settlements in the West Bank and a long-term military presence in the Palestinian section of the Jordan Valley. But these demands have been rejected by the Palestinian side.
“We will go to the United Nations and we hope the United States will not use its veto, but that we will go with its agreement,” the Palestinian leader had told reporters after a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
After the Quartet meeting. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that “there is no other option but to support the Palestinian plan to go to the United Nations to seek full membership for the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders.”
Meanwhile, the Arab League has also said it would request UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital at the UN General Assembly in September.
According to Mr. Malki, the date was set for September because Lebanon, which will hold the presidency of the Security Council, would be in a strong position to push the bid forward.
“Lebanon will hold the presidency of the Security Council in September and this will help us because the President of the council has special prerogatives, which is crucial,” Mr. Malki added.
But earlier this year, a senior Israeli politician said that the bid could spark new clashes.
“The possibility of a unilateral declaration, it could bring Palestinians out on to the streets for protests and, God forbid, it could lead to a conflict,” Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister who is an MP for the opposition Kadima party told AFP in June.
“Given the great changes in the region, it is very difficult to predict what will happen,” Mr. Mofaz said. “In this situation, an Israeli-Palestinian conflict could lead to a harsh reality.”
Direct peace talks between the two sides had ground to a halt in September last year when Israel failed to renew a partial freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Since then, the Palestinians have refused to return to talks as long as Israel builds on land they want for a future state.
The UN bid is seen by many as a strategic, diplomatic move to secure recognition of a Palestinian state along the borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, covering the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
Last month, envoys from the Middle East diplomatic Quartet met in Washington in one of the final attempts to avoid a major confrontation at the United Nations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
But the diplomatic Quartet failed to reach a breakthrough to revive peace talks and ended with no statement, leaving the Palestinians adamant to see through their UN bid, despite the opposition of both Israel and the United States who would like to reach to fresh negotiations.
Israel wants to keep sovereignty over east Jerusalem as well as large areas of settlements in the West Bank and a long-term military presence in the Palestinian section of the Jordan Valley. But these demands have been rejected by the Palestinian side.
“We will go to the United Nations and we hope the United States will not use its veto, but that we will go with its agreement,” the Palestinian leader had told reporters after a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
After the Quartet meeting. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that “there is no other option but to support the Palestinian plan to go to the United Nations to seek full membership for the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders.”
Meanwhile, the Arab League has also said it would request UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital at the UN General Assembly in September.
Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/13/162139.html