Palestine within sight of “non member state” UN status

The U.N General Assembly is poised to grant ““non-member observer state” status within the United Nations to Palestine. Diplomats anticipate an overwhelming majority will vote in Palestine’s favor, especially since 132 countries have already formally recognized the state of Palestine and 60 states have agreed to co-sponsor the resolution.. “I think that the great majority of nations will vote with us because there is a global consensus on the two-state solution,” said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinians’ U.N. representative.

There is some hope on the part of supporters that the resolution will give Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party the boost they need to politically overtake Hamas, the dominate party in Palestine and, according to the United States, a terrorist organization.

For US officials the matter is a highly contentious one. The passing of the resolution will very likely incite a diplomatic backlash from Israel. The Obama administration has struggled to balance its support for Palestinian statehood and its endorsement of the Palestinian Authority’s position as the legitimate Palestinian leader while opposing the push for U.N. recognition. The administration continues to maintain that successful direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine are the only solution for the dispute.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton travelled to Gaza recently in an effort to encourage the ceasefire but also in a last ditch effort to dissuade Abbas from approaching the United Nations on the issue of Palestinian statehood. “We’ve obviously been very clear that we do not think that this step is going to bring the Palestinian people any closer to a state, that we think it is a mistake, that we oppose it, that we will oppose it,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. “The secretary was very clear with President Abbas . . . that our position on this has not changed, and we are continuing to make that clear, not only directly to President Abbas and the Palestinians but also to all of our U.N. partners, as well.”