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29 November 2012 Last updated at 17:07 ETShare this page
President Mahmoud Abbas: "The international community now stands before the last chance to save the two state solution"
The UN General Assembly has voted to grant the Palestinians non-member observer state status - a move opposed by Israel and the US.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the assembly the vote was the "last chance to save the two-state solution" with Israel.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said the bid "doesn't advance peace - it pushes it backwards".
The assembly voted 138-9 in favour, with 41 nations abstaining.
'Birth certificate'"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel," Mr Abbas told the assembly.
"The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," he said.
Mr Prosor said "the only way to reach peace is through agreements" between the parties, not at the UN.
"No decision by the UN can break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel," he said.
Opponents of the bid say a Palestinian state should emerge only out of bilateral negotiations, as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords under which the Palestinian Authority was established.
Symbolic milestone The Palestinians are seeking UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967.
France, Spain and Norway are among those urging the General Assembly to raise the Palestinians' UN status. Germany was set to abstain.
While the move is seen as a symbolic milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood, the "Yes" vote will also have a practical diplomatic effect, says the BBC's Barbara Plett, at the UN.
It would allow the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improve their chances of joining UN agencies and bodies like the International Criminal Court.
Last year, Mr Abbas asked the UN Security Council to admit the Palestinians as a member state, but that was opposed by the US.
UN approves Palestinian status upgrade with 138-9 vote (and US Senators threaten to cut aid)
by Philip Weiss and Adam Horowitz on November 29, 2012 19
Palestinians watch Mahmoud Abbas address the United Nations General Assembly in a video broadcast onto the Separation Wall in Bethlehem. (Photo: George Hale)
Update:
At around 5:00 pm in New York City, the United Nations General Assembly voted to approve Palestine's bid to become a non-member observer state. The final vote stood at 138 in favor, 9 against and 41 abstentions. The United States voted against the measure along with Israel, Panama, Palau, Canada, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Czech Republic and Micronesia.
Original Post:
Above is the livestream of the United Nations-- this morning the "Special meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People." Gaza is still fresh on our minds, says the chair, a thought echoed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "I share the frustration that the two state solution seems ever more distant," he says in urging all parties to "breathe new life into the peace process, which is now on life support."
Vuc Jeremic, president of the General Assembly, says today will be historic; and no problem has bedevilled the UN so long as this one.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, says We shall never leave this land. And calls on the UN to affirm a two state solution and the right of refugees to return to their homes.
Iran's representative has called for implementation of the two-state solution, and an end to the occupation, including of East Jerusalem -- "a fair and credible peace process, based on the relevant UN resolutions," the Arab Peace Initiative, and the Road Map.
Roger Waters is to deliver a speech on behalf UPDATE: Roger Waters, speaking as a member of the Russell Tribunal, emphasized the American responsibility for the conflict. "The battleground is here at the headquarters of the United Nations and simultaneously in new York city with access ot the media." The great challenge, he said, is to inform the American people of their responsibility for supporting Israeli violations of human rights.
You can read the draft of the General Assembly resolution under considerationhere.
Meanwhile, Republican senators swung into action yesterday afternoon. From Lara Friedman at Peace Now:
The first shot has been fired in the much-anticipated Congressional battle to punish the Palestinians for seeking to upgrade their status at the UN - and to also punish any UN agencies and any countries that support them.
The vehicle for this attack is S. 3254 - the highly contentious National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate is now considering. For those who keep track of these sorts of things, there is NOTHING in the NDAA that in any way relates to the Palestinians. No funding, no programs - nothing. But that hasn't stopped Senators Barrasso (R-WY), Lee (R-UT), and Inhofe (R-OK) from introducing an amendment whose purpose is defined as "To provide for restrictions on foreign assistance related to the status of the Palestinian mission to the United Nations." A copy of the amendment, which was filed this afternoon, is available here. Senator Barrasso's press release touting introduction of the amendment is available here.
Barrasso statement:The vehicle for this attack is S. 3254 - the highly contentious National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate is now considering. For those who keep track of these sorts of things, there is NOTHING in the NDAA that in any way relates to the Palestinians. No funding, no programs - nothing. But that hasn't stopped Senators Barrasso (R-WY), Lee (R-UT), and Inhofe (R-OK) from introducing an amendment whose purpose is defined as "To provide for restrictions on foreign assistance related to the status of the Palestinian mission to the United Nations." A copy of the amendment, which was filed this afternoon, is available here. Senator Barrasso's press release touting introduction of the amendment is available here.
"The best path to a true and lasting peace is through direct negotiations between the two parties - not through manipulations at the United Nations," said Barrasso. "The Palestinian Authority's attempt to change their United Nations' status is a purely political maneuver that will circumvent direct peace process negotiations with Israel. If the Palestinians move forward with this irresponsible plan, they will violate international agreements, undermine the peace process and threaten the security of our ally. My amendment makes it clear that undermining the peace process comes at a cost."
Barrasso's amendment specifically cuts 50 percent of the total U.S. funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and also to any U.N. entity that grants the Palestinians a status change. It also reduces 20 percent of all U.S. foreign assistance to any country voting for the status change.
Barrasso's amendment specifically cuts 50 percent of the total U.S. funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and also to any U.N. entity that grants the Palestinians a status change. It also reduces 20 percent of all U.S. foreign assistance to any country voting for the status change.
