The current session of the United Nations General Assembly is being held under an Arab presidency. An Arab country is also heading the Security Council for this same month in which the session is being held. Furthermore, the preambles and preparations for the session, in addition to Security Council meetings, make clear that Arab issues, and what the Arabs heading to New York are bringing, will be predominant both on the agendas of the UN's two representative bodies and in the meetings held by world leaders in New York. The Arabs will preoccupy the world, or the world will become preoccupied with the issues of the Arabs, during a few days this session. Some of these issues are old, being renewed for the occasion, such as those of Palestine and Iraq, while other are new, having been imposed by the Arab Spring, especially Libya and Syria. The Palestinians bring their request for recognition at the United Nations of their state's membership. That is their legitimate right by all standards. Yet such a request, or seeking after such recognition, which represents a new topic in the Palestinian issue before the UN, is surrounded with considerable doubt over the possibility of it being met. On the other hand, Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) obtained the Jamahiriya's seat effortlessly, with very broad recognition from all countries, including the permanent members of the Security Council. It seems to negate all international laws and treaties for the UN to refrain from accepting the membership of the Palestinian state, which is recognized by the majority of members, while Libya's NTC would be met with unanimity. Despite the difference between the case of Palestine and that of Libya, one can assert that the NTC would not have been receiving this kind of support, in spite of tremendous Western support for the Libyan rebels, had it still been under siege in Benghazi and had Gaddafi's forces still been in control of Tripoli. In other words, the international community grants legitimacy to the outcome of the events on the ground, and it cannot be hoped to create new realities unsupported by actual achievements. And what is denied the Palestinians at the UN is connected to the fact that they have not yet been able to turn the administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA) into that of a state, with everything this would entail at every level, institutional, political and economic – and this for many internal and external reasons. In fact, one could say that the internal reasons have been behind the ability of external reasons to act and prevent the formation of the state. And what the Palestinians could not achieve on the ground, by virtue of their division, of Israel's hostility and the US's blatant bias, will not be easy to achieve at the United Nations. With regard to the Libyan issue, on the other hand, recognition of the NTC's representation comes as a result of what was achieved on the ground in Libya, regardless of the roles played that led to this achievement. This represents the difference between it and how the Palestinian issue is being dealt with. Similarly, the issue of Iraq will not be the object of disputes at the United Nations, after Iraqi-American agreements have established a standing state of affairs, removing Iraq from under the authority of the Security Council and of Chapter VII, and turning the clause on sanctions into a technical issue, rather than a political one that could be exploited within the framework of international competition in Iraq. What happens and is achieved on the ground also defines the limits within which the international community is dealing with the Syrian crisis. On the background of the iron fist the Syrian regime continues to make use of, which indicates that it will remain in control of the situation, any UN resolutions that would impose putting a stop to the violence against protesters would be hindered. Moreover, there is little hope in Security Council meetings that any agreement could be reached that would allow for protecting civilians or enacting sanctions to that effect. If we were to add the Iranian nuclear issue which also concerns the Arabs, Arab crises impose themselves on the United Nations' agenda. Yet what they will bring back from New York will be nothing but the fruit of what they have achieved in reality, and they will not bring back something that can change this reality. What is new about the current session is that two Arab countries will be in charge of organizing the agendas and discussions, through the presidencies of the General Assembly and the Security Council. This may well be a lucky coincidence, but it will still in effect have no impact on the outcome that could be reached by the Arabs.
