Sir,
Of the 193 voting states at the UN, a meagre nine states opposed recognition of Palestine. Amongst the states that approved recognition of Palestine were the world’s two most populous countries (India and China), and the world’s largest democracy (India)! In fact, nine of the world’s ten most populous countries supported Palestinian recognition. Amongst the nations supporting the motion were communist (China), totalitarian (North Korea), and emerging democracies (Russian Federation). Of the meagre nine nations opposed to the recognition of Palestine, were the USA/Israel/Canada/Czech/Panama unilateral alliance, and the US “satellites” Micronesia, Palau, Nauru, and the Marshall islands. Intriguingly, of these nine nations, four are amongst the world’s least populous! Surely this sends a strong message to opposed nations: namely that The World would like to see an independent Palestine, and the nine detractors are hopelessly out of touch with (or worse, disinterested in) world opinion? The US and Israel are starting to look rather silly and isolated, and their action reaffirms what the rest of us already believe: that neither the US nor Israel are viable partners in building an independent Palestine, or indeed, peace in the Middle East. Perhaps these nine detractors should emerge from their naïve, self-imposed ignorance, and listen to what The World has to say about the matter? It is time now for the next step: full recognition of a Palestinian state.
Dr Rory E. Morty
Giessen, Germany
Dr Morty makes a cast iron case for accepting Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.
He could have mentioned that Israel was accepted as a member of the UN, with only 33 votes for, 11 votes against with 13 abstentions.
US double standards, when it comes to Israel.
perhaps, Mike, you’re forgetting that the US and the rst of the world was willing to vote for a Palestinian state at the same time they accepted and welcomed Israel.
it was the Palestinians who rejected the thing……
your claim of hypocrisy is poor.
a [alestinian state certain;y should be recognized and welcomed…..however “recognizing ” one exists at present id a fiction as there is no functioning…or even single…. Palestinian state.
The Palestinians have a few things to do before there will be one.
a Palestinian state certain;y should be recognized and welcomed…..however “recognizing ” one exists at present id a fiction as there is no functioning…or even single…. Palestinian state.
The Palestinians have a few things to do before there will be one.
dubinsky, The partition of Palestine in 1948 took 55% of land that was historically Arab and gave it to European`s of a specific religion. The holocaust didn`t happen in Palestine, why then were Palestinians punished for the crimes that were committed in Europe?
The US did not offer to vote for Palestine to become States, the US very quickly recognised Israel as a State, but has steadfastly refused to do the same for Palestine, despite over 150 countries who do recognise a State of Palestine.
What this article is about is the UN accepting Palestine as a full UN member, something the US has said it will veto and something Israel has said will never be acceptable for that country.
Clinton, Bush and Obama have all declared their support for a two state solution, yet when faced with a step in that direction the US has said no.
A false claim, or pretence of having admirable principles, beliefs or feelings is defined as “Hypocrisy”
If the US really wanted a Palestinian State then one would be created, the State of Israel continues to exist only because that is the wish of the US.
The serious problem facing Israel is the declining power of the US and the growing influence of China, particularly the phenomenal increase in China`s trade links with Middle Eastern countries, as demonstrated with her strong support for Iran, it`s scary.
the Palestinians were offered a state and refused to accept it, Mike….. no amount of bs from you can change that.
the state was drawn up …. and all the Palestinians had to do was say “yes, thank you.”
they instead chose war, so save your lie about there’s no Palestinian state because the US didn’t really want it to exist.
that’s simply tiresome crap.
Talk about tiresome crap. At the time, Jews owned about 6% of the land in Palestine. Arabs owned more land in every single district. The majority proposal of the UN Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP) to partition the territory into separate Jewish and Arab states explicitly rejected the right of the Arabs to self-determination. It recommended that the minority Jews who owned a small fraction of the land be given 55% of the area of Palestine for their state, while the majority Arabs who owned most of the land would get 45%. In other words, the partition plan called upon the Arabs in Palestine to surrender their property rights and their right to self-determination. Some “offer”. The Arabs were right to reject this racist and inequitable recommendation.