Just reflect on what the USA and Israel are seeking to do as part of their resistance - nay, rank opposition - to the Palestinians securing Observer State status at the UN. That is almost a certainty to succeed. But, the USA and Israel want to curb what they see might impact on them with the Palestinians at the UN. It all sounds like game-playing a la the schoolyard. We are talking about human beings in all, of this leave aside international law and civil discourse and humanity between all peoples (hello United Nations!) in this world of ours.
"After failing to head off a vote in the United Nations on Thursday that would upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s status, the United States and Israel are looking ahead to how they can contain the damage from the approval of a resolution that even some European allies have signaled they will support.
The draft resolution calls on the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinian Authority to a nonmember observer state. It is virtually certain to pass, despite the opposition of the United States and a handful of other nations.
On Wednesday, two senior American diplomats — William J. Burns, the deputy secretary of state, and David Hale, the special envoy to the Middle East — met at a hotel in New York with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to register American concerns.
“No one should be under any illusion that this resolution is going to produce the results that the Palestinians claim to seek, namely to have their own state living in peace next to Israel,” Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, said Wednesday. “We thought it was important to make our case one more time.”
A major concern for the Americans is that the Palestinians might use their new status to try to join the International Criminal Court. That prospect particularly worries the Israelis, who fear that the Palestinians might press for an investigation of their practices in the occupied territories.
Another worry is that the Palestinians might use the vote to seek membership in specialized agencies of the United Nations, a move that could have consequences for the financing of the international organizations as well as the Palestinian Authority itself. Congress cut off financing to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 after it accepted Palestine as a member. The United States is a major contributor to many of these agencies and plays an active role on their governing boards."
From Information Clearing House commenting on a report in The Guardian (here) on the same subject:
"In other words, in return for Britain supporting the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN, the Palestinians would have to overlook Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity, and refrain from insisting that Israel stop the ongoing theft of Palestinian lands in the occupied territories by building new Jewish settlements and expanding existing ones, practices that are illegal under international law.
I wonder why the British government is so keen to protect Israeli war criminals? Could it be because 80 per cent of Conservative Party MPs belong to the pro-Israel lobby group, Conservative Friends of Israel?"
"After failing to head off a vote in the United Nations on Thursday that would upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s status, the United States and Israel are looking ahead to how they can contain the damage from the approval of a resolution that even some European allies have signaled they will support.
The draft resolution calls on the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinian Authority to a nonmember observer state. It is virtually certain to pass, despite the opposition of the United States and a handful of other nations.
On Wednesday, two senior American diplomats — William J. Burns, the deputy secretary of state, and David Hale, the special envoy to the Middle East — met at a hotel in New York with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to register American concerns.
“No one should be under any illusion that this resolution is going to produce the results that the Palestinians claim to seek, namely to have their own state living in peace next to Israel,” Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, said Wednesday. “We thought it was important to make our case one more time.”
A major concern for the Americans is that the Palestinians might use their new status to try to join the International Criminal Court. That prospect particularly worries the Israelis, who fear that the Palestinians might press for an investigation of their practices in the occupied territories.
Another worry is that the Palestinians might use the vote to seek membership in specialized agencies of the United Nations, a move that could have consequences for the financing of the international organizations as well as the Palestinian Authority itself. Congress cut off financing to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 after it accepted Palestine as a member. The United States is a major contributor to many of these agencies and plays an active role on their governing boards."
From Information Clearing House commenting on a report in The Guardian (here) on the same subject:
"In other words, in return for Britain supporting the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN, the Palestinians would have to overlook Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity, and refrain from insisting that Israel stop the ongoing theft of Palestinian lands in the occupied territories by building new Jewish settlements and expanding existing ones, practices that are illegal under international law.
I wonder why the British government is so keen to protect Israeli war criminals? Could it be because 80 per cent of Conservative Party MPs belong to the pro-Israel lobby group, Conservative Friends of Israel?"
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