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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Palestine 'will not accept' UN observer status | |
| 2011-09-03 | |
| (Ma'an) -- The Paleostinian Authority has rejected the French prime minister's suggestion that a Paleostinian state should take observer status in the UN like the Vatican. Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki told Ma'an that the suggestion was unacceptable because if the Paleostinians wanted to be like the Vatican, an observer, they could have updated their status at any time. The Paleostinians insist on full membership because the majority of countries in the General Assembly support Paleostine, Al-Malki said denying the possibility of cancelling the bid in light of US threats. He added that "there are 20 days before the president hands in the membership application to the secretary-general of the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly.... "But we will see what developments can happen that make us consider our options especially that there is a meeting today in Poland for the EU's foreign ministers and what their suggestions would be." He added that "There will be a number of forums until the 20th and we'll study them all to see if they serve the Paleostinian cause; but if not, we'll continue to the Security Council." The minister added that there is a meeting for the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... leadership on Sept. 13, when Paleostine will be handed the presidency of the council for six months.
PLO executive committee member Saleh Rafat said that if the US vetoes Paleostine's UN bid for statehood in September, "we will go back again, and five times more" with initiatives for UN recognition. Speaking to Voice of Paleostine radio on Wednesday, Rafat insisted that threats from Israel could not frighten the Paleostinian leadership and people out of their determination. Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau warned earlier that the UN bid would nullify Israel's agreements with Paleostinians and called for Israel to "impose our illusory sovereignty on territories over which there is consensus -- that is, in the Jordan Valley and the major settlement blocs, and even more." Israel has already undermined the Oslo Accords which formed the basis of limited self-rule for the Paleostinian Authority, Rafat said. "We will continue our struggle against the occupation and our fight in all the international forums until the Israeli occupation ends and the establishment of an independent state," the PLO official vowed. Rafat also called for a cross-factional meeting to encourage implementation of May's reconciliation deal between former rivals Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Fatah, which sought to end the four-year divide between their ruling governments in the West Bank and Gazoo Strip. Fatah and Hamas officials had announced in August that work towards implementing the deal would begin after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which concluded Thursday. | |
| Posted by:Fred |