Friday's Vote and Aftermath

We really don't know what will happen during the course of events today - we'll have to wait and see. Today probably will not represent a tipping point, but a beginning point for things to come.

It is assumed that the UNSC will not vote in favor of a "PA State", but the consequences of such a negative vote may well trigger increasing violence in the epicenter. The U.S. is hoping that their veto power isn't required so we'll also have to wait to see what happens there.

Meanwhile, Israel and the IDF is on high alert, as Abbas has decided to go ahead and formally request a UNSC vote:

Palestine fed up with waiting for EU common position

Palestine's ambassador to the EU has said her leader, Mahmoud Abbas will on Friday (23 September) ask the UN Security Council for full UN membership despite last-minute British, French and US warnings not to go ahead.

Leila Shahid told EUobserver in an interview it remains unclear which EU countries will support the resolution or whether French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new three-step peace plan is an EU position or a purely French idea.

"The Europeans have been taken aback by our decision but we are going ahead because we see they cannot agree with each other ... We can't give up our rights while we wait for the Europeans to be united. And we can't give up our rights because [US] President Obama has a presidential campaign coming up and wants to win votes," she said.

Police brace for violent clashes ahead of PA UN vote

The Israel Police on Friday morning was bracing for the possibility of violent clashes ahead of the speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations.

Roughly 22,000 officers have been mobilized by the police’s Operations Branch, which has placed the force on Special Alert Level 3C – one alert level before the highest.

“We will have special preparations on the Temple Mount and around Jerusalem for Friday prayers. And then we will go on special alert again for 7 p.m., when Abbas is expected to speak,” a source from the Operations Branch told The Jerusalem Post.

IDF braces for mass West Bank protests ahead of Palestinian statehood bid at UN

The Israel Defense Forces have bolstered troop levels in the West Bank against the possibility of widespread disturbances today. But the Central Command's assessment is that the Palestinian Authority security services will continue to prevent demonstrators from reaching areas under Israeli control.

While the IDF has no indication that violence will erupt, it worries that events in New York - where PA President Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly today and formally apply for UN recognition as a state - could inflame tempers, as could Friday prayers in the mosques.

Below, we see some of the procedural nuances involved in the push for a PA State via the UN:

What Does Abbas Bid Mean

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is presenting his application for full United Nations membership to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday.

Ban will then pass the application to the Security Council for review. It is widely thought the Security Council will issue a recommendation on the application Friday afternoon.

Abbas has declared he will pursue every option in the 15-member decision making Security Council and 193-member General Assembly to obtain full membership as a recognized sovereign state.

For Abbas' application to move to the General Assembly for a vote, he must win affirmative recommendations from 9 members of the Security Council, including all five permanent members.

Abbas could also ask the General Assembly to upgrade its status from permanent observer entity to permanent observer state, a non-voting status only held by Vatican City.

But officials in Ramallah have cast aspersions on such an upgrade decrying it as merely symbolic.

Also see what ultimately represents a method of having Israel disarm their nuclear weapons:

IAEA adopts resolution against Mideast atomic bombs

After debate highlighting deep divisions between Israel, Arab states, UN atomic agency members call on Middle East to join global anti-nuclear treaty; Israel US abstain in vote on Egyptian-proposed text.

Durban III

As in previous years, Israel, the US and 11 Western countries did not take part in protest of event's focus on Israel instead of on other global hotspots where racism is present

The participants at the conference voted on a political statement affirming the declarations of the original Durban forum, in which Palestinians were labeled as "victims of racism".