The Palestinians Go For Statehood

PALESTINE - ISRAEL, 3 Oct 2011

Daniel Horgan – TRANSCEND Media Service(1)

A good friend of mine once said that if you start a thought, paragraph or sentence with the words ‘first of all’ then you know you are probably in some kind of trouble… So here we go…

First of all, why exactly is it that an action in which virtually every nation in the world will have the opportunity to vote on is being labeled as ‘unilateral’ action by the powers that be, especially in light of the fact that 126 nations of the 193 UN member states already recognize Palestine as a state and the majority of those have Palestinian embassies and open diplomatic relations with the state of Palestine?(2) Furthermore, the United Kingdom, France and other European nations have updated the Palestine General Delegation to ‘diplomatic missions and embassies, a status normally reserved for states,’ Victor Kattan observes in the American Journal of International Law.(3) This is not to mention that strong arguments can be made that Palestine meets the four criteria for statehood found in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, which is a signature document of the international law requirements for statehood.(4)

Second of all, if you are confused about what is the exact status of Palestine in the UN, you are probably not alone. As of now Palestine is a non-state entity with observer status in the UN. It is seated at the GA-General Assembly behind the member states but in front of international organizations with the same status. As an entity it has the right to observe and speak, but not to propose or vote on any matters. So what are the official options that you may have already read about upgrading its UN membership? With a simple majority from the GA, which it is guaranteed to have, Palestine could become a sitting recognized non-member state of the UN. This would mean it would have the right to vote on procedural matters, and propose resolutions, but not the right to vote on resolutions.

The other option, and the one that the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas says he will go for, is full statehood membership, which requires a recommendation from 9 of the 15 Security Council members (without a veto), and a 2/3 majority of the General Assembly. This would give Palestine the right to vote on resolutions and be one of the 10 rotating members of the non-permanent Security Council, on top of unquestionable statehood. More importantly, it could be a party to international agreements that may well be used as leverage in negotiating with Israel. The trouble with this is that the US (or should we say the Jewish lobby), has said it will veto it. We should hold Obama and any and all past presidents accountable for allowing this to happen. The fact remains that the influence of the Jewish lobby and of the American Israeli Political Action Committee-AIPAC on foreign policy regarding Israel-Palestine run deeper than Crater Lake into the southern Oregonian landscape, without consideration of U.S. or global public opinion.

More perplexing is the fact that for years polls show Israeli citizens advocating for a two-state solution while the Jewish Diaspora always made sure it never happened. Settlers in the West Bank and some 300,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem certainly do not want this to happen either; they rather be ruled by Israel than the PLO-Palestinian Liberation Organization. However, regardless of these complexities a majority of citizens on both sides agree that a two-state solution is the best viable option… So how did we get here, to a point where this standoff at the UN resembles a gunfight at high noon?

Both Palestine and Israel claim that the other is denying their right to security. However, the Palestinians have also been denied in some shape or form every other internationally recognized human right, and that is so because the US has monopolized the mediator role, producing no tangible results according to the 1967 guidelines set forth by the UN. Most notably, neither Egypt nor the US, who were parties to the Camp David Accords, ever made Israel respect the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a basic right that any global citizen displaced by an armed conflict has.

They also did not have any impact on the building of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories even though every president since their inception, including George Bush II, has spoken out publicly against them. In fact, despite public statements by GW, Obama, or others condemning the settlements verbally, they never took any concrete action against Israel. For further contrast to the current situation, it is hard to argue with Gideon Levy when he declares in an article on TRANSCEND Media Service that the building of illegal settlements is the mother of all unilateral actions. The truth was and is that these negotiations, supposedly bilateral, have had the look and feel of 3 (Israel, US, Egypt) on 1 (Palestine).

So of course, along with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, this is how Palestine and Abbas arrive at this juncture. To make matters ever more complex, the UN has declared the PLO the sole representative of the Palestine people, when in fact Hamas beat the PLO in internationally declared free and fair elections, and now controls the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Of course, an Israeli would say that Hamas should recognize Israel as a state, whereas Hamas would say that Israel should respect the right of return of displaced Palestinians. These two may yell at each other or continue to blow each other up, but neither appears to be willing to budge on their positions, what makes for as difficult a situation as there has been since 1948, and will surely complicate any hopeful thoughts that Abbas has for statehood by achieving measureable goals in negotiations. But with 95 percent of the Gaza water being undrinkable, unemployment running at 45 percent, the poverty rate tripling since the blockade started, and 80 percent of the population dependent on aid, it is critical that something be done about this internationally recognized ‘collective punishment,’ the blockade and the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.(5)

What choices do Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinians have? Go on living under an Israeli occupation for the indefinite future, a third intifada, or trying to nonviolently mobilize the world on its behalf by asking for statehood and increase its leverage on a global stage? It seems that Gideon Levy is right again when he says that the most responsible and dignified action is the third one.

Make no mistake; Palestinian statehood is no panacea for this 63-year old conflict. It could in fact bring out more of the worst from Israel and its defense forces, and in turn more feeble attempts to affect the situation with violence from Hamas, along with a hopefully unthinkable scenario of another Palestinian uprising in the West Bank. More suffering could also materialize if Israel follows through with its threat to withhold tax revenues from the West Bank or if the US cuts its aid to the PLO. However, with the international community watching closely there is great potential for a change of course and for progress on steps to take for solving this age old conflict, while guaranteeing Palestinians at least some of the rights they deserve.

One thing is undeniably sure. If the Arab Spring has taught us anything, it is that the Arabs of the Middle East will no longer stand still, lie down, or bend over, when it comes to being dealt a despotic hand by domestic and-or imperial forces; and the Palestinians will not be an exception. It is clear that in some way, shape or form they will not be denied the international human right of return or the more basic rights to water, health, education, and in last analysis, true independence. The Arab Spring has spoken and every last Arab has desired to sit at the table of international human rights.

As Western as some this may sound, it is ‘East meets West’ in some way or another, and it is for sure ‘David vs. Goliath’ history in the making, and accordingly, the US should step up and live up to its own interests and not those of the Jewish Diaspora. Furthermore, it should live up to its own ideals and the moral responsibility to support equal rights for all, and the power of self-rule for every nation on the planet.

Contact any of your US political representatives and paste ‘NO to the Veto of Palestine Statehood’

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

NOTES:

1. With thoughts to our dear friend Caroline from the European Center for Peace Studies, Stadtschlaining, Austria, whose house was blown up by the IDF-Israeli Defense Forces, and who was displaced from Gaza by the armed conflict, as well as thoughts to any other victims of the occupation — Israeli or Palestinian.

2. El Espectador, ‘La Rebelión de Abbas’, Sept. 21, 2011 Enric González.

3. Noam Chomsky, ‘In Israel a Tsunami Warning’, August, 2011, NYT, TMS.

4. Elizabeth Witman, ‘Concrete Impact of Palestine’s UN Bid Still Uncertain’, Sept. 20111, Inter Press Service, TMS.

5.  Noam Chomsky, ‘In Israel a Tsunami Warning’, August, 2011, NYT, TMS.

 _______________________

Daniel Horgan is a former graduate student of  Prof. Johann Galtung at the European Center for Peace Studies (formerly EPU-European Peace University) in Austria, and holds a Masters Degree in Conflict Transformation from EPU.  Currently he is enrolled at the TRANSCEND Peace University (online).  He has worked and lived in Guatemala, Uganda, Colombia, and Sri Lanka, and  has three years’ experience working in international protection and documentation of local human rights situations from the field to management.  He also holds a degree in Finance from the University of Massachusetts, and a California Teaching Credential, where he taught International Law and Human Rights at the high school level in public institutions.  He can be reached at dhorgan123@yahoo.com.

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This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 3 Oct 2011.

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