Saudi Prince: Obama Let Palestinians Down At UN

While addressing an audience at the National Press Club (NPC) on Tuesday, Saudi Arabian Prince Turki Al Faisal called out President Obama for letting the Palestinians down at the UN General Assembly.

“When you have a president in the United States who calls for a two-state solution…and says, ‘within a year I hope to see a Palestinian state,’ [but] when the Palestinians during that year… go to the UN to get a state…[and] he stands up and says, ‘no I am going to veto that’,” Al Faisal remarked, “that is where not only disappointment, but… anger and frustration increased dramatically in people’s minds in the Arab world that they have been let down.”

Obama’s decision to veto the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the UN will have “devastating effects” on the U.S-Saudi Arabia relationship, according to al-Faisal

The Saudi Prince also expressed opposition towards Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and meddling in other Arab nations’ affairs.

“Saudi Arabia continues to insist that Iran’s leaders should give up their goal of acquiring nuclear weapons and create, by deed, the creation of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East,” Al-Faisal said. “This is clearly what is best for the people of Iran and the region.”

Al-Faisal said the he is fully supportive of the tightening of sanctions, assertive diplomacy and concerted action via the United Nations to encourage Iran to cease their nuclear weapons development. However, the Saudi Arabian prince said his country would not support a military attack on Iran.

“An attack on Iran, I think, would have catastrophic consequences not only in terms of human loss… but also because Iran can retaliate and the retaliation by Iran would be worldwide,” Al-Faisal expressed. “If anything, it will only make the Iranians more determined to produce an atomic bomb, it will rally support for the government among the population, and it will not end the program, it will merely delay it, if anything.”

Palestinians Seek Path to New Status at UN

As questions surrounding the procedural details of Palestine’s bid for UN admission continue to go unanswered, Palestinian representatives have made one thing clear: next Friday President Mahmoud Abbas will tell the world body his country has the right to join the international community.

Recognition as a full fledged member state would require unanimous support from the UN Security Council, but the US has already indicated it would use its veto at the security body to prevent such a move. 

Palestinian leadership could also settle for an upgrade to its observer status by seeking recognition through the General Assembly, where it expects to receive the necessary 2/3 majority of votes, but some Palestinian officials view the General Assembly path as the lesser option. 

“We are considering all these options, but the final decision has not been made..If one road is blocked we will follow another one, but the objective is still the same.”  Riyad Mansour, Palestinian Authority representative at the UN told reporters outside the Security Council. 

Mansour says President Abbas continues to engage in discussions with regional organizations like the EU and Arab League but that the decision to seek Palestinian recognition at the world body had already been made. 

“The issue of the state of Palestine will be resolved. It will not be up for discussion any more, regardless of its status at the UN, whether it is a full member or observer member, we are a state and it will be legislated at the UN that we will be a state.“  

In a press conference earlier today, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said it was up to UN member states to reach a decision on the Palestinian bid for admission.

Ban said his role as Secretary General was limited to technical oversight of issues surrounding the request. 

“I have not received any application yet. If I receive it then I will refer it to the Security Council.”

The UN chief also said he was profoundly troubled by the lack of progress in the Middle East Peace process and urged both sides to return to the negotiation table as quickly as possible.

  “I’m asking them[Israeli and Palestinians] to enter into meaningful negotiation and the international community has a duty to create some conditions favorable to this.” he told reporters. “Israel has a duty to create such conditions, issuing all these new settlements has not been helpful. At the same time Palestinians should also try to sit together with the Israeli people.” 

Palestinian leadership walked away from talks last September after the Israeli government refused to extend a freeze on settlement construction. 

The Obama administration made use of its Security Council veto for the first time earlier this year when it blocked the passage of a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. The US was the only Security Council member to vote against the resolution.

 In a New York Times Op-Ed earlier this week, Saudi Prince Turki al Faisal warned American officials a veto of the Palestinian statehood initiative could fatally undermine US credibility in the region and even strengthen Iran. 

 Former US President Jimmy Carter also came out in favor of the Palestinian bid earlier this week, saying he “reluctantly” supported the move as a legitimate alternative to the current stalemate in negotiations

Father of Detained Israeli Soldier Says Son’s Continued Captivity and Palestinian Bid for Statehood are Incompatible

by Eli Fink

The father of an Isreali soldier held by Hamas in Gaza says the UN General Assembly should resist supporting a bid for Palestinian recognition at the world body until his son is released. 

“The Palestinians cannot go on with this grave breach of international law and humanitarian law and at the same time ask for legitimacy and to be a member state of the United Nations- It doesn’t go together.” Noam Shalit, father of Gilad Shalit, told Talk Radio News. “We are not asking the leaders of the world not to vote on behalf of the Palestinians [at the GA meetings this month], but to stop breaching international law and humanitarian law and release our son unconditionally.”   

 Shalit is meeting with UN diplomats in New York this week, the most recent attempt in a long list of family efforts to secure Gilad’s freedom. He and his wife Aviva have already set up a protest tent outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem and have been strong proponents of a prisoner exchange deal between the Israeli government and Hamas.

Gilad Shalit was a nineteen-year-old corporal in the Israeli Defenses Forces in 2006 when he was abducted by militants associated with the Gaza-based Palestinian faction Hamas. His current condition and the terms of his detention are unknown as no outside visitors have been permitted to see him. In the fall of 2009 Hamas put out a 2 minute video of the former tank driver which proved he was still alive in exchange for the release of twenty female Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. 

Jewish Group Says Palestinian Statehood Could Ignite Civil War Between Hamas, Fatah

The United Nations recognition of a Palestinian State at this year’s General Assembly could lead to a civil war between competing Palestinian political factions and a possible increase in attacks against Israel, says the head of a the World Jewish Congress, an organization dedicated to protecting Jewish communities. 

  “If this unilateral declaration were to be endorsed by the United Nations it would most likely trigger the continuation of a vicious cycle of violence within the Palestinian side.” Dan Diker, Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), told reporters at the UN this afternoon. “The way that might play out is for Israel to be attacked, in order to distract attention from what is really happening, which is an internal Palestinian civil war between Fatah and Hamas.” 

Palestinian leadership continues to maintain it will seek recognition at the United Nations this fall, although details about the exact status of recognition it is looking for remain unclear. 

Diplomats say they have already secured support from over 120 countries. 

 Regardless of the questions surrounding the exact nature of the Palestinian request, groups like the WJC say any “unilateral” Palestinian action at the world body will set the peace process back decades and threaten the UN’s integrity. 

“It would be an egregious violation of the very peace framework that this institution[UN] has established for the Arab states and Israel and has supported in every single peace process since 1967.” 

Diker was at the UN along with members of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), a coalition of Jewish legislators and ministers from around the world, to discuss support for Israel ahead of the General Assembly later this month. 

 ICJP Chair Fiamma Nirenstein, an Italian Member of Parliament, echoed the WJC Secretary General’s view  that recognition of Palestinian statehood would likely negate any previous international agreements between both parties. 

 “The moment when you arrive to unilateral declaration, you cancel them out…you make a blank slate.” she said, 

 Nearly a year ago, Palestinian leadership walked away from peace talks after Israel refused to extend a settlement freeze in the Occupied Territories. The UN has since voiced concern over an important increase in settlement construction. 

 The United States, Tel Aviv’s strongest ally at the world body, says continued construction of settlement is counter productive to peace efforts and illegitimate, but should not preclude negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Nirenstein dismissed the notion that the Netanyahu government’s stance on settlement expansion was a significant obstacle to Middle East Peace, and argued that the issue should be part of the final negotiation process. 

“A lot of the settlements have been dismantled in the Gaza strip, and probably the moment when there is an agreement, this is what will happen and the settlements will be dismantled.”

Palestine's Admission To UN Can Be Positive, Say Advocates On Both Sides

As the upcoming United Nations (UN) General Assembly creeps closer, Israeli policy experts across the world are hurrying to gather information about Palestine’s potential declaration of statehood. Many wonder if such an act will hinder or advance the Arab-Israeli peace process. 

After peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine were stalled for almost two years, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced in March to AFP (Agence France Presse) that the Palestinian leadership planned to request full membership to the UN, along with recognition of a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly in September. 

Omar Dajani, former adviser to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), told reporters today that such a request has three anticipated favorable outcomes for Palestinians:

1. Palestinian legal position in negotiations will be greatly improved.

2. Pressure will be placed on the Israeli government to return to the negotiating table and halt construction on settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.                  

3. Mass mobilization and non-violent resistance will be promoted in the West Bank and Gaza strip. 

“It is important to look at these goals and see how they can be coextensive with the Israel peace camp and conversely, how they can be turned to a destructive direction in the process of peace,” Dajani said. 

The “destructive direction” Dajani referred to is that Palestinian leaders will be violating existing agreements between them and Israel if they involve the UN. Past agreements, such as the Declaration of Principles and the Roadmap, require that disputes between Israel and Palestine be settled via direct negotiations and not through third parties, such as the UN.

Consequentially, by involving the UN and violating existing peace agreements, spectators fear it will destroy any hope of further peace negotiations. 

Gadi Baltiansky, former press secretary for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and director-general of the Geneva Initiative, however, believes that the Israel advocacy community is making too big of a deal out of this.

“Every year so many resolutions are taken by the UN and no one pays attention,” he told reporters. “The Palestinians are just trying to upgrade their status in the UN…It is not a dramatic move that will change history.”

“I am not sure this will be a constructive move that leads towards a better future,” Baltiansky continued. “But when we think about the other options without negotiations, this can be better.”

Both Baltiansky and Dajani agreed that the UN vote can be a positive experience if used as an opportunity to relaunch peace talks. 

“See it as a potential resolution that is good for both sides,” Baltiansky said. “Use language that both sides can live with. Imagine a resolution that says the world will recognize a capital in Jerusalem and Palestine with a border in between them. For the first time the world will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

“Make it into a resolution that references territory swaps,” Dajani said. “Such a resolution will move them forward with the peace process since they will understand that whatever territorial concessions were made to accommodate settlement growth would be compensated for them.”  

While many are worried about the UN General Assembly in September, it is clear that the sequential step is most important. It is after the UN vote that both sides will need to work together toward future peace talks.