Ten dead in fire at Spanish retirement home    UN climate talks 'no longer fit for purpose' say key experts    US hacker sentenced over Bitcoin heist worth billions    Questions raised over Portugal's capacity to host Europe's largest annual tech event    Dr. Al-Rabeeah: 170 countries benefited from $133 billion aid from Saudi Arabia "Humanitarian efforts strained by increasing crises, funding shortages, and access challenges"    Delhi shuts all primary schools as hazardous smog worsens    Riyadh lights up as Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez dazzle at Elie Saab's 45th-anniversary celebration    Public Security chief launches digital vehicle plate wallet service    Pop hit APT too distracting for South Korea's exam-stressed students    'Action is in our nature': 4th Saudi Green Initiative Forum to be held at COP16    Saudi Arabia's inflation rate hits 1.9% in October, the highest in 14 months    Mohammed Al-Habib Real Estate Co. sets Guinness World Record with largest continuous concrete pour    Australia and Saudi Arabia settle for goalless draw in AFC Asian Qualifiers    PIF completes largest-ever accelerated bookbuild offering in MENA region    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    South Korean actor Song Jae Lim found dead at 39    Don't sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes, doctors warn    'Marvels of Saudi Orchestra' to dazzle audience in Tokyo on Nov. 22    Saudi Champion Saeed Al-Mouri scores notable feat in Radical World Championship in Abu Dhabi with support from Bin-Shihon Group    France to deploy 4,000 police officers for UEFA Nations League match against Israel    Al Nassr edges past Al Riyadh with Mane's goal to move up to third    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Frustrated Palestinians to appeal to UN for state
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 15 - 11 - 2009

A Palestinian drive to ask the U.N. Security Council to endorse a state unilaterally, put forward by a top negotiator Sunday, appeared more an expression of frustration with U.S. and Israeli policies and stalled peace talks than a real effort to go it alone, according to AP.
A resolution for a Palestinian state could face a veto from the U.S., Israel"s main ally. But if the Security Council approved it, consequences could be even more severe.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the move, warning Israel would retaliate.
«There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,» Netanyahu said in a speech at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem Sunday evening, saying he wanted a full peace agreement with them.
Then he warned, «Any unilateral action would only unravel the framework of agreements between us and can only lead to one-sided steps on the part of Israel
He did not elaborate further, but an Israeli legal expert said if the Palestinians move ahead by themselves, Israel would be within its rights to cancel interim peace accords, which regulate daily life between the two sides.
The Palestinians are upset over continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and are disappointed with the U.S. failure to put pressure on Israel to halt the construction. The lack of progress led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to threaten to quit politics earlier this month.
As events unfolded, that, too, appeared to be an indirect appeal for international backing by Abbas, who enjoys considerable world support.
Abbas said he did note want to run in an election set in January. But last week, election officials postponed the vote indefinitely, saying that the militant Islamic Hamas" control of the Gaza Strip made it impossible to proceed. In the West Bank Sunday, officials in Abbas" Fatah Party said they would meet next month to extend his term indefinitely.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said frustrated Palestinians had decided to turn to the U.N. Security Council after 18 years of on-again, off-again negotiations with Israel.
«Now is our defining moment. We went into this peace process in order to achieve a two-state solution,» he said. «The endgame is to tell the Israelis that now the international community has recognized the two-state solution on the "67 borders,» referring to the cease-fire lines in effect before the 1967 war, when Israel captured territories from Jordan and Egypt that the Palestinians claim for their state.
Further complicating the situation is the status of the Gaza Strip. Erekat said the U.N. initiative would be to create a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, but Hamas has controlled Gaza since it expelled forces loyal to the Western-backed Abbas in 2007.
Erekat declined to say when the Palestinians would make their appeal to the U.N, signaling that the threat may be aimed in large part at putting pressure on Israel.
Nimr Hamad, an adviser to Abbas, said the Palestinians «have no intention of rushing» to the Security Council.
The Palestinians declared independence on Nov. 15, 1988, in the midst of a violent uprising against Israel that lasted until the first interim accord was signed in 1993. Many countries recognized the declaration, but it was never implemented.
Instead, the interim accords set up a system of interlocking administrations that falls far short of peaceful relations but quietly brings some order to issues like Palestinian imports and exports, tax collection, utilities and security cooperation.
More importantly, Abbas" Palestinian Authority itself is a product of the interim accords. If it were superseded by a U.N.-endorsed state, Israel could cut off relations with the Palestinian government.
In fact, Robbie Sabel, a former legal adviser to Israel"s Foreign Ministry and now a lecturer in international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Associated Press that Israel would be within its legal rights to cancel all the partial peace accords.
«Israel could say there has been such a gross and major violation that the agreement itself is no longer in force,» he said, since the agreement stipulates that all outstanding issues must be settled in negotiations.
Israel controls much of the West Bank, which is dotted by more than 100 settlements and army bases, with hundreds of roadblocks in place. A newly independent Palestinian state would be hard pressed to take control of its territory.
Some 300,000 settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 180,000 Israelis living in Jewish neighborhoods built in east Jerusalem. Efforts to confront the Israelis could quickly escalate into widespread violence.
Hamad said Abbas would travel to Cairo Wednesday to discuss the plan to go to the U.N. with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
There was no immediate reaction from Security Council members. But Erekat said Russia, another permanent member of the Security Council, and unspecified European nations are «on board» with the Palestinian plan.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem Sunday, ex-President Bill Clinton said the Israelis and Palestinians must hammer out an agreement.
«It"s a little piece of land; you can"t get away from each other,» he said, noting that the Palestinians have shown themselves capable of self-rule.
«They are proving in the West Bank that they can get this show on the road,» Clinton said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.