Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on September 26, 2012

By Flavia Krause-Jackson - 2012-09-26T11:19:51Z

This time last year Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was a hero to his people as he waved an application for statehood recognition from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly.

The gambit was met with a standing ovation and cheers by an audience of ambassadors and world leaders, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained seated and stone-faced.

Abbas will deliver a different kind of speech tomorrow when he returns to the UN dais.

Last year cost them a lot, said Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine, a nonpartisan group based in Washington that advocates a peaceful two-state solution with Israel. In hindsight, he said, it was not the wisest course of action.

Presumably, after having endured a very predictable failure, they will have learned the diplomatic lesson, he said in a telephone interview.

While the 77-year-old Abbas had succeeded in grabbing attention for his cause, a year later that victory rings hollow. The Palestinians are no closer to achieving statehood -- either in terms of territory or UN recognition -- and the Israeli- Palestinian peace process is moribund, with any diplomatic urgency superseded by war in Syria and the possibility Israel may preemptively strike Irans nuclear facilities.

The Palestinian people thought that the Abbas speech last year was the beginning, but I am afraid a year later it seems that its the end, said Hani Al Masri, a Ramallah-based political analyst.

This time, rather than pursuing a doomed path to recognition as a full member state that the U.S. would veto in the Security Council, Abbas has lowered expectations. He is seeking a limited upgrade from observer entity to non- member state in the 193-member General Assembly, where no nation holds veto power. That, too, is opposed by U.S. and Israel, which say any issue of statehood can be resolved only through negotiations.

A year later, Abbas is going to the GA with something he he could have done last year, Masri said in an interview. He is applying for non-member state, but with no vote due to the pressures made by the U.S.

Read more here:
Palestinian Leader Abbas Back at UN With Lowered Aims

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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