Palestine Officially Recognized by the UN

[Geee]

Town Hall:

Why do we still support the UN?

Despite recent conflict in Gaza, which erupted after Israel decided to no longer tolerate the constant barrage of rocket fire across its border, the UN General Assembly has decided to recognize Palestine as a state. This afternoon, it granted Palestine “non-member observer state” status.

Doing nothing to ease US and Israel’s apprehension regarding the vote, UN Secretary General sent out a mistaken tweet urging a one-state solution:

 

This slip up highlights the tension surrounding the issue. Pushing statehood through the UN will only exacerbate the problems already present in the region and creates more by allowing Palestine access to the International Criminal Court.

Palestine has been trying to get their foot in the door of the UN for some time now and this marks their biggest win yet. Last year, Palestine applied for full state recognition as well as membership on UNESCO, the UN’s cultural heritage agency. They failed to gain recognition as a full member state, but still were able to gain entry into UNESCO. In this instance, 11 of the 27 member EU voted to allow Palestine to gain entry, France and Spain among them. Britain, along with several other countries, abstained.

[nickydog]

Here is what NightWatch said about this this morning:

 

"U.S. State Departement and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. have been humiliated in the one of the worst defeats of U.S. diplomacy in the modern era. The U.S. diplomats failed to persuade U.S. allies to vote with the U.S. It is a setback for Israel's negotiating position. Some news pundits have called it a symbolic victory. Actually that is quite wide of the mark. The Palestinian State will now be an equal - in the U.N. - negotiating partner with Israel, rather than an inferior.

 

The positions of the negotiators are forever changed. As a state, Palestine is entitled to a much wider range of international support than as an entity. It is freed from dependence on the largesse of Arab states, the U.S, the West and NGO's. It has the authority to negotiate on its own, without Israel permission. It also may be recognized as a belligerent by other states,entitling it to provision of arms. It also means that Israel's sea blockade of Gaza may be judged an act of war, rather than an act to contain a renegade entity. Airspace controls may be affected. As for ground borders, Egypt can negotiate with the Palestinian state about how to control the border in Sinai, rather than with Israel. Palestine can also negotiate directly with Iran and Sudan to ensure the supply of arms through Egypt. No U.N. member needs, ex officio, to work with or through Israel, henceforth, in dealing with or helping the Palestinians.

 

This is a diplomatic and strategic calamity fo the U.S. Department of State and its U.N. mission and for Israel. Its full consequences will become clearer over time, but U.S. national security interests have taken a major hit."