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Palestinians to Ask for UN Recognition
RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinians said on Sunday they plan to ask for UN recognition of their independence, amid mounting frustration over the stalled peace process as Israel warned against any unilateral moves.
Palestinians have marked Nov. 15 as their Independence Day since 1988, when the Palestine National Council unilaterally declared statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh) "We have reached a decision ... to go to the UN Security Council to ask for recognition of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and with June 1967 borders," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
He was referring to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and mostly Arab east Jerusalem that Israel captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
"We're going to seek support from EU countries and Russia and other countries" for the measure, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the move could lead to unilateral action from the Jewish state. Israel warns Palestinians over seeking recognition
"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," Netanyahu said in a radio address.
"Any unilateral action will undo the framework of past accords and lead to unilateral actions from Israel."
He called on the Palestinian Authority to restart negotiations "without preconditions."
Erakat's comments came amid growing frustration among the Palestinians with so-far ineffective US efforts to relaunch peace negotiations with Israel that were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.
They mark the latest in a series of options the Palestinians have warned they could take if the Middle East peace process remained stalled.
Others include unilaterally declaring independence, asking the UN to determine final borders of their promised state, dissolving the Palestinian Authority (PA) and seeking equal rights within Israel.
Hardline Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said that if the Palestinians took unilateral steps, Israel should annex the parts of the West Bank that contain major Jewish settlement blocs.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, warned that without a peace deal, Israel will face a rise in international support for either unilateral Palestinian statehood or a bi-national state.
"Neither of these threats will happen tomorrow, but we shouldn't disregard their importance," he said.
The Israeli information and diaspora minister, Yuli Edelstein, said Erakat's comments "prove that among the Palestinian leaders, there are many who still believe that they can achieve their goals through violence and terrorism."
"I hope the international community will not cooperate in this project and will speak out clearly in favour of the only possible approach, namely direct negotiations," Edelstein told AFP.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said he was intent on building institutions for a de-facto Palestinian state, which he has previously said he was aiming to complete by 2011.
"What we're concerned with, the PA and my government, is to get ready for statehood, to prepare institutions of the state," he told reporters in Ramallah. "That's not the same as declaring statehood."
"That's the goal and when we approach it this way, we stand a very good chance of getting the support, sympathy and encouragement of the international community," he said.
The administration of US President Barack Obama has so far been unable to convince Israelis and Palestinians to resume their peace talks amid deep disagreements on the issue of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
The Palestinians insist on a freeze of all settlement activity before talks restart, while Israel is offering a temporary and limited ease on construction, saying the issue will be resolved during the negotiations.
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18 Comments so far
Show AllCannot Common Dreams block or ban this poster [ladyjack] from posting her trash?
How about reporting the comment every time she posts?
Who?
And why? I don't see any postings with that name on this thread...
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!! PALESTINE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edelstein equates petitioning the UN with terrorism.
The zionists are totally bonkers.
At least there exists one nation more pyschotic than the USA.
BDS BDS BDS . Some construction hand tools are made in israel.
BDS BDS BDS If everyone goes out and discovers one specific product made in israel, besides the obvious kosher ones, and posts it here and then everyone mass mails, it we will dimiminish the monster.
Glenn:
Someone towards the top posted a bar code starting with 729 - those are the products made in Israhell. Some of the stores that carry their products are Trader Joe's and Krueger's. Also Bernie Marcus, Home Depot's CEO is a rabid Zionist. When I found out, I cancelled their card. I'm getting ready to write him a personal letter with the card cup up and tell him where he can stick it.
They make a lot of weapons and security systems.
Like the US.
I hope the UN will recognize the Palestinian State.
If the Worlds gotta Change, it might as well be the World to Change it.
Israeli bar code 729 EAN
They should in truth ask for recognition of the Palestinian borders as outlined by the UN in 1948 which would mean more territories illgaly seized being part of the Nation called Palestine.
Netanyahoo demands negotiations without preconditions yet Usrael continues to set the pre-condition that the Palestinians recognize the Usraeli right to steal their lands.
>>Any unilateral action will undo the framework of past accords and lead to unilateral actions from Israel."
In 1948 The Zionists refused all further negotiations and then declared the State of Usrael unilaterally. Palestine suggests the same anow they should negotiate?
For that matter just what IS the framework of past peace negotiations.? Usrael has been in violation of said accords since day one as they keep expanding West Bank settlements and building that wall.
USrael is in panic mode. Their support the world over plummets .Like the USA all they have left is that out of control Military. Yet each time they use it the support for them as a State plummets even more.
Gw:
The peace negotiations are just a facade, a picifier while the continue to steal land. For as long as they're pretending to be in negotiations, asking the impossible and refusing to concede to anything, the land theft and the murders continue in the background. The Jews have never been at peace with anyone - least of all themselves - and nothing will be achieved thru negotiating with them in good faith.
Viva Palestina!
The Palestinians should in TRUTH AND JUSTICE UNILATERALLY DECLARE STATEHOOD JUST AS ISRAEL UNILATERALLY DECLARED STATEHOOD.
ISRAELIS demand negotiations BASED ON THE SUPPORT OF THEIR USA ENABLERS WHO HAVE ALLOWED ISRAEL TO VIOLATE/IGNORE EVERY UN RESOLUTION SINCE 1949.
ISRAEL AND ITS ALLIES HAVE DRUNK THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS FOR 60 YEARS, WHICH IS PRODUCING ITS REWARD, AN APARTHEID, PARANOID CULTURE THAT CAN SURVIVE ONLY ON CONTINUAL SELF DECEPTION.
I think it would be better to ban all states that are religious entities from the UN. Of course the US would have a problem then.
Simply put, religion screws up everything it touches.
Remember the saying, give someone an inch, and they take a mile?,---well the Jews keep taking, and everyone seems to be afraid to stop them. After the Jews conquer the Arabs land, who is next on their list???
I was going to say, you're living in it but then I realized that the US was their first conquest.
The comparison between the Warsaw Ghetto and Gaza is valid.
The silent American shame in not supporting the Goldstone Report.
A report written by a Zionist Jew and America's subservience to AIPAC.
Anyone see Turkey's prime minister told the British Guardian News paper that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to use nuclear weapons against Gaza ????
Quotes never seen or heard on CNN.
"We'll make a pastrami sandwich of them .. we'll insert a strip of Jewish settlements in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlements right across the West Bank, so that in 25 years time, neither the United Nations nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart. "
(Ariel (Arik) Sharon, 1973)
Rabbi Perin: "A million Arabs are not worth one Jewish fingernail"
Benjamin Netanyahu --"Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away"
.
Good for the Palestinians! There's nothing that would make happier than to see those poor, suffered people attain human status and some respect from the rest of the world. I can only hope that the UN has the gumption to do something for them as an attempt to right the wrong they have been done.
As for this Netanyahoo dude, somebody should put a Kassam rocket up his ass. These people truly are self-righteous. The nerve of this yahoo warning the Palestinians not to seek recogniation. If he could only listen to his forked tongue... And the threats! Oy, the threats! Sadly, they can't taken as idle threats either as we so well know.
Now, if I were the Barracuda guy, I wouldn't be all that sure that support for Israel will rise. He should know that this ain't his daddy's democracy and people all over the world are beginning to see Israel in its true light.
Please, somebody, put these people out of my misery already!
This sounds like a good idea, long overdue. I sure hope it works. Can they do it without the u.s. vetoing it?
Righteous and Cool and can Work.
But Israel's defense is so scary and powerful; negotiations!
Though I note their mass-murder threat too!