Linda Menuhin Abdul Aziz, JCPA
SUMMARY
The momentum for the emergence of Palestinian statehood began two years ago with a serious plan set forth by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. In addition, President Barack Obama in his speech to the UN General Assembly in 2010 stated that Palestine should become a full member of the United Nations by the fall of 2011.
Unlike the vibrant debate in Israel over the Palestinian plan to seek support for statehood in September in the UN General Assembly, the Arab media is occupied with the wave of changes sweeping Arab countries, leaving little room for discussion of the projected Palestinian plan.
Some commentators believe Abbas’ plan is a dream and that, in order to save face, it is better not to push the plan all the way to the end since this step will not create a Palestinian state on the ground, due to the opposition of Israel and the U.S. Others believe that Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to use the declaration as a tactic to reshuffle the cards and achieve better terms.
The Arab media predicts that a declaration of statehood by the Palestinians would not result in any immediate changes on the ground. Any Palestinian state would lack sovereignty and authority, with borders dictated by certain facts on the ground – the security fence, the settlements, and Israeli control of Jerusalem, as well as continued economic dependence on Israel.
The Oslo II Agreement of 1995 established that neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and Gaza. In order to avoid Israel’s accusation of breaching the Oslo agreements, Palestinians are advised to shake off their commitment to the Oslo agreements, under the pretext that Israel did not live up to all its commitments.
CONTINUE
We mentioned this in another blog post as well. As a veteran Palestinian affairs correspondent who formerly reported for Israel Radio and Al Hamishmar newspaper, and currently reports for several foreign media outlets, Pinhas Inbari is well qualified to speak of the possible effects of a September declaration of a Palestinian state. Inbari is the author of a number of books on the Palestinians including The Palestinians: Between Terrorism and Statehood.
In his recent article he says, “What the Palestinians really envisage after September is to exploit a UN endorsement of statehood to legitimize an escalation of the conflict. After having the 1967 lines recognized so as to negate the results of the Six-Day War, they plan to seek recognition of the 1947 partition lines.”
Read on:
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=7797&TTL=What_Are_the_Palestinians_Planning_after_September?
Although I would like to see annexation now, it is not a good time. I believe that it will happen when the Republicans gain the White House at the elections. Israel would have a friend, hopefully, to back them.
The Palestinians want to cancel their Oslo obligations and they still expect Israel to keep it! A move to the UN is a form of defacto abrogation.
As I’ve said in the past, the sooner the Jewish State gets out of the lethal Oslo trap, the better off it will be.