Arab League panel to seek UN membership for 'Palestine'
During Doha meeting, League committee says it will request full membership for Palestinian state in Gaza and West Bank with e. Jerusalem as its capital; Abbas says he sees no hope for talks with Israel, firm on UN path.DOHA - An Arab League committee decided on Saturday to seek full UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with east Jerusalem as its capital, it said in a statement.
The Arab League's peace process follow-up committee said it would request membership for the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly's meeting in New York in September.
Earlier, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said there were "no shared foundations" for peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and seeking UN recognition of Palestinian statehood was his only option.
With the peace process at a standstill, the Palestinians have said they hope to advance their national cause by seeking full membership of the United Nations in September.
US opposition means they have very little chance of success, but Israel fears the maneuvering will leave them looking vulnerable on the diplomatic front.
This particular issue regarding a UN vote for a "PA State" seems to hinge on the U.S. voting for or against this proposal. For now, President Obama is publicly stating that he is opposed to the creation of a 'Palestinian' state via a UN vote and would rather see this process take place through negotiations. With an election coming up in 2012, it is hard to imagine Obama voting against Israel in such a vote.
Only time will tell and we need to carefully watch how the U.S. Administration continues to view this situation.
In related news:
'Gaza smuggling industry booming'
As Egypt opens the Rafah border crossing for the first time since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip Israel security elements are trying to review the new situation. "Opening the crossing signifies a strategic change in Egypt-Hamas relations that warrants special attention," a security element told Ynet.
Egypt Opens Rafiah Crossing
It should be noted that the opening of the Rafiah crossing is a violation of previous Egyptian agreements with Israel.
Hamas spokesperson Abu Zaheri thanked the Egyptians for opening the crossing. “This is a step to destroying the siege on Gaza and will improve relations between Hamas and Egypt,” he said.
MK Nachman Shai (Kadima) said that “the opening of the Rafiah crossing completely upends the issue of a siege on Gaza, and removes from Israel an important tool to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza
This is a terrible failure of the government, which has lost the support of the international community and of Egypt in its attempts to isolate Hamas. Under these circumstances we should announce the complete end of the siege of Gaza, which has now been rendered toothless and ineffective,” he said.
This is just all part of the build-up to the next war. All sides are getting prepared for the inevitable.
We know these wars are coming, the only question is when. From everything we see today, it appears that it will be relatively soon.
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