So in my mind, there are a few benefits Palestine gleans from formulating a strategy that centers around the international community. For one, it begins to counter perceptions that the Palestinian state is an inherently violent one focused on eliminating the state of Israel. For too long the lasting image of Palestine has been marginal Hammas entities that have employed violence as way to expand their interest. Now, the Palestinian authority is beginning to play global politics and looking for policy change as a form of advancing their interests. Secondly, the current effort is two-statist in orientation, and it is implausible for anyone to argue that Palestine doesnt recognize Israel as a state or is unwilling to have a two-state solution given that fact. Though some may already see this, there's been a broader perception concerning Palestine's statehood aspirations and its unwillingness to negotiate a two-state solution. Measures like this help debunk that claim. Thirdly, the strategy begins to formalize Palestinian authority into the hands of figures who are focused on statecraft and not mindless violence or anti semitic polemics. I believe that Hammas and their ilk get undermined when people see the effectiveness of politicians actually working to secure a Palestinian state in a non-violent format. Fourthly, it provides the Palestinian authority leverage for future negotiations with Israel. Though the move is purely symbolic, an indication of international support and display of political savvy may force Israel and the US to be more amenable to the Palestinians needs. There are obvious risks that they run, but I would venture to guess that at this point, the Palestinian authority is willing to live with those consequences because they lack meaningful alternatives. The real question is what they do once the UN Security Council vote ends and their bid gets vetoed and/or rejected.
Japan pays a significant portion of the maintenance costs of the US troop presence there. Do they get a pass, too? Related question: Ever heard of Google? You can type words into the little box about things you want to know about, and it gives you all sorts of resources that can help you not sound ignorant in your web-based communications.
I hope that is a joke? The Israeli government actually provides funding/stripends to encourage Jewish immigrants to illegally settle on Palestinian land. The whole bit about coming back to the table and attempting to negotiate peace is complete bull$#!^. The Palestinian authority has nearly bent over backwards to establish a deal where it is continually scoffed away by the Israeli authority. It is not in Israel's favor to establish peace in the region. The thing that people need to open their eyes to and realize is that Israel continues to dick around to buy time so that more and more illegal settlements are built, taking pieces bit by bit of any shrivel of Palestinian land. If peace is truly what was desired by the Israeli government, it would have been established some time ago. The Palestinian government realizes this and is tired of the games, which is why it has made the move towards recognition through the U.N. Also given how far in their pockets the Israeli lobby has provided funding to United States policy makers, the distinction between a U.S. vote and an Israeli vote is indistinguishable; they are one in the same.
As I was saying... absolutely disgusting... http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/01/world/meast/israel-settlements/?hpt=wo_c2 Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called for speeding up the construction of 2,000 housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The announcement from his office comes in retaliation for the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO's vote, a day earlier, to accept a Palestinian bid for full membership. According to a senior Israeli official, the plan involves building 1,650 units in East Jerusalem and the rest in the West Bank settlements of Efrat and Maaleh Adumin. The construction will take place in areas that are expected to be part of Israeli territory in any future peace agreement, and there is no contradiction between it and the various peace plans that have been on the table, the official said. Palestinians claim the land Israel occupied in East Jerusalem and the West Bank after the 1967 war as part of a future Palestinian state. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said repeatedly that the Palestinians will not return to negotiations until Israel halts all settlement construction and accepts 1967 border lines. Israel, for its part, has maintained that negotiations should begin with no preconditions. "You cannot expect Israel to continue to be restrained when the Palestinian Authority leadership repeatedly slams the door in our face," said the Israeli official, who was not authorized to speak to the media. As an example of a door slamming, the official cited the UNESCO bid and the effort to win membership in the United Nations among other instances of Palestinian actions that damaged prospects for a peace deal. The Israeli government has also put a temporary hold on the transfer of Palestinian tax revenue collected by the Israeli government, the official said. Palestinians rely on the revenue to fund government operations, including the payment of public sector salaries. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas' spokesman, criticized the Israeli construction announcement, calling the decision one "to accelerate the destruction of the peace process," according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency. Senior Palestinian negotiator, Mohamad Ishtayeh, similarly condemned the move. "Two days ago, they (Israeli government) announced the building of one million settlement housing units over the span of ten years. What Israel decided today was another episode in settlement construction. Using the UNESCO Palestinian membership is only looking for excuses and another way of building settlement housing units. This fits within the overall plan which was announced two days ago before the UNESCO vote," he told CNN. Separately on Tuesday, the permanent observer of the Palestinian Authority to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said he sent a letter to the secretary-general of the United Nations and the president of the Security Council on Israel. "We write today to express our grave concern about the military escalation undertaken by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Gaza Strip," he wrote. Within the past four days, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 11 people and injured many more, Mansour said. Since Saturday, scores of rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza, resulting in the death of one Israeli civilian and the temporary closure of schools and universities in the southern part of the country. The United States said on Monday that it would cut funding to UNESCO after the agency voted in support of Palestinian membership. The vote, which required two-thirds approval by UNESCO members, passed with 107 in favor, 14 against, and 52 abstentions. It was the first such vote by a part of the world body and is separate from the Palestinian bid for full membership in the United Nations. After Monday's vote, Palestinian officials told CNN they are considering the pursuit of membership in other international groups, such as the World Health Organization. "Instead of sitting around the negotiating table," Netanyahu said after the vote, Palestinian leaders "have decided to make an alliance with Hamas and are carrying out one-sided endeavors in the U.N., including today. We will not sit with folded arms against these measures which are hurting Israel and are violating bluntly the most basic obligations the parties took in the peace process, to solve the conflict between us through negotiations."
