Sixty-five years after the United Nations General Assembly vote to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, the General Assembly has returned to vote on granting Palestine "non-member observer state status." The Jews were happy on 29 November 1947 with the partition resolution and considered it the beginning of their path to cementing the foundations of the state of Israel that they dreamed of establishing, to carry out the Zionist movement's project. Likewise, the Palestinians are happy with their "victory" on Thursday and believe the resolution to be the entry-point to cementing their right to establish their independent state, on 22 percent of historical Palestine, after losing the rest. This territory was granted to them by the partition decision because of the defeat in the 1967 war, which ended in Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. However, no partition resolution ended the Palestinian-Jewish conflict over the borders and identity of the state, and no symbolic, deficient recognition of the state of Palestine in New York will be enough to solve the conflict now. The first resolution was nothing more than an international recognition that the Zionist movement wanted to use to cement their "right" to control part of a territory to which they had no right in the first place. Thursday's resolution only involves the Palestinians' gaining international recognition of their right to ask for sovereignty over a part of their historical land, without getting them, practically speaking, to this sovereignty. The Jews used the partition resolution as a foundation for cementing, by force of arms and war, facts on the ground that were not granted to them by that resolution, and which they did not dream of in 1947. In the same way, the Palestinians' ability to impose new facts, whether on the ground or through negotiations, will be what turns the General Assembly resolution into something meaningful. By recalling the history of the struggle, it is not difficult to conclude today that the Arabs and the Palestinians lost by rejecting the partition resolution, which could have saved them 43 percent of their land, in addition to their control over most underground water sources in Palestine, including the water that goes to Tel Aviv, and one-third of their coastline. However, a belated reading of history allows us to re-appraise the errors, or the correctness, of resolutions, while we cannot do this today. But the Arabs lost not only the opportunity to benefit from the partition resolution; afterward they experienced a series of defeats, and lost opportunities, until we reached the situation in which we find ourselves today. The biggest gain that we can make is Israel's recognition of occupying Palestinian territory and recovering it through negotiations over its withdrawal. If the Palestinians can build on the General Assembly vote and bolster the unity of their various factions and their political decision-making process, the resolution will constitute an advanced step toward gaining international recognition of their rights, not just for becoming a state that monitors what is taking place in the world, to one that enjoys full membership in the international community. In order for this to happen, the Palestinians should rally around a resolution with regard to their rights and demands, and settle on a maximum level of demands that they seek and can achieve. It is also important for the Palestinians to not exaggerate in their estimation of the importance of their gain in New York, and not portray it as the gain of Fatah, or President Mahmoud Abbas, to match the recent gain by Hamas in the political exploitation of its response to the aggression in Gaza. There is considerable information indicating that the Palestinian Authority's campaign to promote the resolution on the international stage was based on the need to support the PA's policy of negotiation, against the "militancy" policy that Hamas is accused of. Such a stance by Hamas will prolong division and infighting among the Palestinians, which is no less dangerous to the Palestinian cause than the continuation of Israeli occupation.
