PA steps up criticism of US 'pro-Israel bias'
Palestinians furious over Congress resolution against unilateral statehood; EU restates need for negotiated accord; J’lem unfazed by Arab League bid to get UN to demand settlement halt.
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday stepped up its criticism of purported US pro-Israel bias in the diplomatic process, after Congress passed a resolution calling on the administration to “deny recognition to any unilaterally declared Palestinian state.”
The PA also reissued appeals to EU countries to recognize a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967, lines, but suffered another rebuff from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who restated the need for a negotiated solution.
There are only two problems with the above statements: If the UN Security Council takes this issue, then it would essentially depend on the U.S. to block the effort. Who knows what the administration would do under international pressure. It appears that ultimately this issue will end up with the UN making a determination.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, said they were not overly concerned that a UN Security Council resolution calling for Israel to stop “illegal” settlement activity was immediately in the works, despite a call on Wednesday night by Arab League foreign ministers to seek such a resolution.
“This is not an imminent threat,” one diplomatic official said, saying that often Arab League statements were just that – statements that were not translated into operative policy. He said it would take time, and US acquiescence, for this to move through the Security Council.
The above (bolded sentence) isn't exactly reassuring. If it will only require some more time, and US acquiescence, then such a decision could be relatively soon.
The Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, issued a statement saying they wanted to obtain a decision from the Security Council “that confirms, among other things, the illegal nature of this [settlement] activity and that would oblige Israel to stop it.”
In a related development, Naor Gilon, the Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general for Western Europe, protested to Norway’s charge d’affaires about Oslo’s upgrade of the Palestinian presence in Norway from representation to delegate status.
What the upgrade does do, he said, is “reinforce the Palestinian illusion that they could achieve political gains without directly negotiating with Israel.”
Why do I get the uneasy feeling that this issue will end up in the Security Council?
And if it does, there is no telling what would happen. This is beginning to get very interesting, and the push by the Arab States to make this effort a reality is continuing relentlessly.
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