Today the UN Assembly passed the resolution presented
by the Palestinians.
This is a significant end times event in that it
prepares the way to the gathering of the Nations against
Israel. It is worth noting that almost all the Nations of
the World voted in favor of the Palestinians against the
wishes and well being of Israel. the vote: a vote of
138-9, with 41 abstentions.
Nando
UN vote recognizes state of Palestine; US objects
Originally published: November 29, 2012 12:31 AM
Updated: November 29, 2012 5:28 PM
By The Associated Press EDITH M. LEDERER (Associated Press)
Updated: November 29, 2012 5:28 PM
By The Associated Press EDITH M. LEDERER (Associated Press)
![...](http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.4273723.1354176534%21/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpg)
Photo credit: AP | UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,
right, shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas at U.N. headquarters Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP
Photo/Frank Franklin II)
UNITED NATIONS – (AP) — The United
Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a
Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the
Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the
United States.
The resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status to a
nonmember observer state at the United Nations was
approved by a more than two-thirds majority of the
193-member world body — a vote of 138-9, with 41
abstentions.
A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of
the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation.
Jubilant Palestinians who crowded around outdoor screens
and television sets to watch the vote hugged, honked and
set off fireworks in celebration.
Real independence, however, remains an elusive dream
until the Palestinians negotiate a peace deal with the
Israelis, who warned that the General Assembly action will
only delay a lasting solution. Israel still controls the West
Bank, east
Jerusalem and access to Gaza,
and it accused the Palestinians of bypassing negotiations
with the campaign to upgrade their U.N. status.
The United States immediately criticized the historic
vote. “Today’s unfortunate and counterproductive
resolution places further obstacles in the path peace,”
U.N. Ambassador Susan
Rice said.
And U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton called the vote “unfortunate” and
“counterproductive.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu called the speech by Palestinian President
Mahmoud
Abbas to the General Assembly shortly before the
vote “defamatory and venomous,” saying it was “full of
mendacious propaganda” against Israel.
Abbas
had told the General Assembly that it was “being asked
today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine.” Abbas
said the vote is the last chance to save the two-state
solution.
After the vote, Netanyahu said the UN move violated
past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and
that Israel would act accordingly, without elaborating
what steps it might take.
Just before the vote, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Ron
Prosor, warned the General Assembly that “the Palestinians
are turning their backs on peace” and that the U.N. can’t
break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel
and the land of Israel.
The vote had been certain to succeed, with most of the
member states sympathetic to the Palestinians. Several key
countries, including France, this week announced they
would support the move to elevate the Palestinians from
the status of U.N. observer to nonmember observer state.
Thursday’s vote came on the same day, Nov. 29, that the
U.N. General Assembly in 1947 voted to recognize a state
in Palestine, with the jubilant revelers then Jews. The
Palestinians rejected that partition plan, and decades of
tension and violence have followed.
The vote grants Abbas an overwhelming international
endorsement for his key position: establishment of a
Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza
Strip and east Jerusalem, the territories captured
by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. With Netanyahu opposed
to a pullback to the 1967 lines, this should strengthen
Abbas’ hand if peace talks resume.
The overwhelming vote also could help Abbas restore
some of his standing, which has been eroded by years of
standstill in peace efforts. His rival, Hamas,
deeply entrenched in Gaza, has seen its popularity rise
after an Israeli offensive on targets linked to the
Islamic militant group there earlier this month.
Israel has stepped back from initial threats of harsh
retaliation for the Palestinians seeking U.N. recognition,
but government officials warned that Israel would respond
to any Palestinian attempts to use the upgraded status to
confront Israel in international bodies.
The Palestinians now can gain access to U.N. agencies
and international bodies, most significantly the International
Criminal Court, which could become a springboard for
going after Israel for alleged war crimes or its ongoing
settlement building on war-won land.
However, in the run-up to the U.N. vote, Abbas signaled
that he wants recognition to give him leverage in future
talks with Israel, and not as a tool for confronting or
delegitimizing Israel, as Israeli leaders have alleged.
Nando