At
UN, Palestine
Takes Its Seat
for
Geographical
Names, Over US
Protest
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS, July
31 -- The
question of
Palestine,
including its
status
and where to
seat it, arose
Tuesday in the
the meeting of
the UN
Group of
Experts no
Geographical
Names.
Following
Palestine's
joining UNESCO
as a full
member, it
followed suit
as
Inner City
Press reported
at the Law of
the Sea,
to which the
US is
not a party.
In
early July
Palestine
asserted the
same right
regarding the
Arms Trade
Treaty talks,
as
first reported
by Inner
City Press. But
after much
back and
forth, under
the resulting
compromise
Palestine sat
in the front
row beside the
Holy See.
For
the
Geographical
Names meeting,
in which
Palestine
wants to raise
a
number of
"re-namings"
by Israel,
there were
three "loud"
speakers
against its
seat: the US,
Canada and
Israel. Egypt
spoke
against the
three and in
support of
Palestine.
The
Palestinian
delegation
exclusively
told Inner
City Press
about a report
they submitted
on contested
names -- they
didn't just
show up for
the seat
-- as
did Syria
regarding the
Golan. Talk
turned to the
Saudi drafted
General
Assembly
resolution on
Syria, on
which there
are informal
consultations
later on
Tuesday, with
a Thursday
voted slated.
Watch
this site.
Footnote:
being named
from the
podium as
participating
on Geographic
Names was none
other than
Google: Google
at the UN.
, 
