BICOM

The Palestinian Authority made its first concrete move yesterday to obtain ‘non-member state’ recognition at the United Nations despite warnings against the initiative by Israel the UK and US.

The PA leadership has made clear over the past several months its intention to ask the UN General Assembly to upgrade the status of the Palestinian UN delegation from a non-member ‘observer entity’ to a non-member ‘observer state.’ The PA hopes that the implications of UN statehood will pave the way for widespread recognition of a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders and allow it access to bodies such as the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where they could file complaints against Israel.

Yesterday, the PA circulated a draft resolution on the issue to all UN member states. According to Reuters, the draft asks the General Assembly to “accord to Palestine Observer State status in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people.”

It has been suggested that the PA will suggest a General Assembly vote take place on the resolution either on 15 November, the anniversary of the declaration of a Palestinian state in Algeria in 1988 or on 29 November, the International Day for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which is also the date in 1947 that the UN General Assembly voted to partition Mandatory Palestine, paving the way for a Jewish State.

However, the Palestinian initiative has been heavily criticized by the UK, Israel and the US. Senior leaders from each of these countries have warned that issues of Palestinian statehood and borders can only be resolved within the context of bilateral negotiations and that unilateral actions, such as the expected UN General Assembly vote, are likely to have a detrimental impact on the prospect of future peace talks. Yesterday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman travelled to Vienna to discuss with Israeli ambassadors in Europe how to lobby European governments not to support the Palestinian initiative.