BICOM

A senior Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah said yesterday that the Palestinian leadership is divided over plans to seek recognition from the United Nations General Assembly of a unilaterally declared Palestinian state in September. “More and more senior Palestinians are beginning to reconsider the approach to the United Nations,” said a senior European diplomat who recently met with Palestinian leadership.

Among those leaders opposed to declaring a state are PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, former Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and former Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Qudwa. Those opposed to the move for UN recognition of a Palestinian state say that it could negatively impact on the Palestinian relation’s with the US. They also believe that a positive vote in the UN General Assembly for a state would not lead to much change on the ground, which could result in an escalation of the public’s frustration and a new wave of protests 

Palestinian representatives led by negotiator Saeb Erekat, met on Monday in Washington with US representatives, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was willing to return to peace talks with Israel on the basis of US President Barack Obama’s 19 May speech. Obama’s speech called for a peace agreement with a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.