At
UN, Palestine
Has Revised
"Non Member
State" Draft,
Here,
Prisoners
Added
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 26, updated
-- Three days
before the UN
General
Assembly
session at
which
Palestine's
application
for Observer
State status
is
to be voted
on,
Palestine's
Mission to the
UN on Monday
circulated a
revised
version of the
draft
resolution.
Inner City
Press has
obtained
the "Rev 1"
and puts it
online here.
Back
on November
8, Inner
City Press similarly
obtained and
then
exclusively
put online
Palestine's
first draft
resolution.
The
changes in
today's "Rev
1" are marked
in bold.
The
new draft adds
the term
"non-member"
in the
Operative
Paragraphs,
and moved the
recognition of
132 states out
of the
Operative
Paragraphs. It
adds the issue
of prisoners.
On
November 21
after the
Security
Council issued
a press
statement on
the Gaza
ceasefire,
Inner City
Press asked US
Ambassador
Susan Rice about
Palestine's
application:
Inner
City
Press: I'm
going to ask
you a Gaza
question
although I
definitely
respect the
right of
people to ask
a follow up to
that
[Benghazi]. I
just wanted to
ask you one-on
Palestine, the
controversy
here at the UN
about
Palestine
seeking
observer state
status. You
heard
Ambassador
Loulichki say
there's no
relation
between the
fighting in
Gaza and the
vote, and
Israel
obviously said
states should
think again.
The U.S.
opposes the
vote, but what
effect do you
think this
week of
fighting-do
you agree that
this shows
that the
Palestinian
Authority has
no control
over Gaza?
Should it make
fewer states
vote in favor
of Palestine
becoming a
state observer
at the UN?
Ambassador
Rice:
Well, I'll let
other states
comment on how
they see the
Palestinian
bid for
observer state
status in the
General
Assembly. From
the United
States' point
of view, we've
been very
clear. Our
goal remains a
negotiated,
two-state
solution. A
Jewish
democratic
state of
Israel living
side by side
in peace and
security with
an
independent,
viable
Palestinian
state. The
only way to
accomplish
that in the
real world is
through direct
negotiations,
and we
continue to
urge the
parties to
come back to
the table and
to resume
those direct
negotiations.
We view
unilateral
steps,
including the
bid for
upgraded
status to
statehood-observer
state status
at the General
Assembly-to be
counterproductive
and not take
us closer to
that goal,
and,
therefore, we
strongly
oppose it.
That's
a decidely
minority view
at the UN. But
how will
European Union
members vote?
We'll
be here on
November 29,
and will
have more on
this before,
during
and after
then. Watch
this site.
, 
