By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times –
JERUSALEM — Facing a lack of progress in their statehood bid, Palestinian leaders announced Monday they will ask the U.N. General Assembly by month’s end to elevate their status in the international body from “observer entity” to “non-member state.”
Though largely symbolic, an upgrade could make it easer for the Palestinians to join organizations such as the International Criminal Court, which previously rejected their complaint against Israel over its handling of the 2008-2009 Gaza Strip assault. The court said it could only intervene on behalf of U.N.-recognized states.
A year ago, the Palestinian Authority sought full U.N. membership, but the effort was blocked by the Obama administration, which threatened to use its veto power in the Security Council. A vote for non-member state status does not require Security Council approval and Palestinians say they already have lined up a majority of the U.N.’s 193 members to support them.
After the re-election of President Barack Obama, there was some speculation that Palestinians might delay the U.N. bid to give the president time to reignite statehood negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. But Palestinian leaders, who circulated a draft resolution at the U.N. last week, confirmed they will proceed this month. They have expressed frustration at being overshadowed by the so-called “Arab Spring” movement, which has drawn international focus toward Syria, Egypt and Libya, and said they hope the U.N. resolution will put Palestinian statehood back in the spotlight.
Israel and the Obama administration are lobbying against the U.N. measure, saying the only path to Palestinian statehood is at the negotiating table. Palestinians have refused to engage in peace talks until Israel halts its settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Over the weekend, Obama telephoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to ask him to delay the U.N. bid, but Abbas refused, Palestinian officials said. Abbas has said he would consider resuming talks with Israel after the U.N. vote, which he hopes will put Palestinians in a stronger bargaining position. Nearly 20 years of peace talks have failed to yield a final agreement between the two sides.
“We are not going back to humiliating negotiations,” said Muhammed Shtayyeh, a member of the Palestinian team working on the U.N. resolution. “There will either be meaningful negotiations or no negotiations at all.”
He said that the exact date of the U.N. vote will be decided after an Arab League meeting Tuesday in Cairo, but most expect the resolution to be submitted on Nov. 29.
Some Palestinians have hinted that Abbas might drop his demand for a settlement freeze if he wins the upgraded U.N. status, but Shtayyeh said Monday that peace talks will not resume until settlement construction is halted.
Israeli officials say U.N. approval of the upgraded status would only increase distrust and make Palestinians more intransigent. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been lobbying European governments in recent days against the resolution, though Israelis acknowledge that Palestinians likely have enough votes for passage even without European support.
