UN votes for Palestinian statehood

Palestine has been awarded the status of a non-member observer state in the United Nations by an overwhelming majority of 138 Yes votes to nine No votes and 41 abstentions.

The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, exchanged accusations and recriminations in speeches preceding the vote. The resolution passed despite stiff opposition from the US and Israel.

“Palestine comes today to the UN General Assembly at a time when it is still tending to its wounds and still burying its beloved martyrs . . . who have fallen victims to the latest Israeli aggression,” Mr Abbas began.

Final attempt

He called the resolution “the last chance to save the two-state solution” and “a final attempt to achieve peace”.

The recent eight-day war between Hamas and Israel “confirmed once again the urgent, pressing need to end the Israeli occupation,” Mr Abbas said, repeatedly referring to “this racist, colonial occupation”.

Mr Prosor noted that this week marked the 35th anniversary of the visit to Jerusalem by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s. Then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, who received Sadat, “said that for peace to endure, Israel’s security must be protected. The Palestinians must be prepared to recognise the Jewish state and they must be prepared to end hostilities once and for all.

“The people of Israel wait for a leader that is willing to follow the path of President Sadat,” Mr Prosor continued. “For as long as President Abbas prefers symbolism over reality, as long as he prefers to travel to New York for UN resolutions rather than to Jerusalem for dialogue,” peace could not be achieved.

Irish vote

Ireland voted for the resolution. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said: “Ireland has long championed the cause of Palestinian statehood, as well as the vital importance for the entire Middle East region of a comprehensive peace settlement based on two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.”

Mr Gilmore said the vote “represents an important step for the Palestinian people on their path towards full statehood, as well as for all those who look forward to the day when Palestine can rightfully take its place as a full member of the United Nations”.

He said Mr Abbas had made clear the decision would open the way for the Palestinians to return to substantive peace negotiations with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his government. "I welcome this commitment which formed an important element in our decision to vote in favour of this resolution.

“I urge both sides to now return to the negotiation table and to complete that urgent and historic task with which they are both charged. As recent events in Gaza have so sadly underlined, the need for such a peace deal only grows more urgent and pressing with every passing day.

“No one knows better than the Irish people the onerous responsibility which conflict resolution and peace-building entails and the difficult and painful compromises which it is ultimately likely to involve."

MrAbbas and Mr Netanyahu would have the unstinting support of the entire international community "if they are prepared to take the necessary risks for peace and negotiate a comprehensive peace deal, resolving all core issues”, he said.

Dublin Labour MEP Emer Costello also welcomed the vote outcome.

Ms Costello, chairperson of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the vote, held on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, "is a significant milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood".

“In particular, I welcome Ireland's continued support for Palestine's right to self-determination."

The UN vote presents "a real opportunity to restate the case for a two-state solution" for Israel and the Palestinians, she said. "I call on both the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority to restart negotiations for a lasting and sustainable peace leading to the creation of a fully independent Palestinian state, while ensuring that Israel is safe and secure within its own borders."

She urged the Israeli government not to engage "in retaliation or recrimination such as the withholding of taxes or the expansion of settlements, as had been mooted before the vote".

Sinn Féin MLA and spokesperson on the middle east Pat Sheehan also welcomed the "historic" UN decision.

In a statement today he said: the vote demonstrates the international community's determination "to see a peaceful and just resolution of the conflict in the region, based on an inclusive dialogue involving all the participants".

A just and lasting peace could only be achieved "if it is based on international law and respect for human rights", he continued.

"The recognition of Palestinian statehood is no threat to any people but rather can provide the framework for a meaningful process involving current protagonists. This step brings the Palestinian people closer to that statehood."

Bid for full membership thwarted

Last year, the Palestinian Authority’s bid for full UN membership had been thwarted by the threat of a US veto in the security council.

Yesterday’s vote strengthened the trend of increasing support for Palestinian statehood among EU countries. About a dozen EU countries indicated they would vote for the resolution, including France, Spain, Norway and Denmark. The majority were to abstain.

Germany was the only EU member which said it would vote against the resolution.

Britain considered voting Yes on condition the Palestinian Authority promise not to use its observer status to gain membership in the International Criminal Court at the Hague, where it might attempt to pursue Israel for war crimes.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinians’ UN representative, said his people had no immediate plan to do so, but wanted to keep that option open.

Mr Abbas and Mr Prosor both noted that the vote was held on the 65th anniversary of General Assembly resolution 181, which divided the British mandate for Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state. Israel accepted it at the time. Under Yasser Arafat’s leadership, the Palestine National Council accepted resolution 181 in 1988.

The UN victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the US and Israel, which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against the move to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the UN to "non-member state" from "entity", like the Vatican.

Britain called on the US to use its influence to help break the long impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Washington also called for a revival of direct negotiations.

Thousands of flag-waving Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip set off fireworks and danced in the streets to celebrate the vote.

The assembly approved the upgrade despite threats by the US and Israel to punish the Palestinians by withholding funds for the West Bank government. UN envoys said Israel might not retaliate harshly against the Palestinians over the vote as long as they do not seek to join the International Criminal Court.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate and counterproductive", while the Vatican praised the move and called for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem, something bound to irritate Israel.

The much-anticipated vote came after Mr Abbas denounced Israel from the UN podium for its "aggressive policies and the perpetration of war crimes", remarks that elicited a furious response from the Jewish state.

"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel," Mr Abbas told the assembly after receiving a standing ovation.

"The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," he said.

Mr Netanyahu responded quickly, condemning Mr Abbas's critique of Israel as "hostile and poisonous", and full of "false propaganda".

"These are not the words of a man who wants peace," Mr Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office. He reiterated Israeli calls for direct talks with the Palestinians, dismissing yesterday's resolution as "meaningless".

A number of western delegations noted that last night's vote should not be interpreted as formal legal recognition of a Palestinian state. Formal recognition of statehood is something that is done bilaterally, not by the United Nations.

Granting Palestinians the title of "non-member observer state" falls short of full UN membership - something the Palestinians failed to achieve last year. But it does have important legal implications - it would allow them access to the ICC and other international bodies, should they choose to join.

Mr Abbas did not mention the ICC in his speech. But Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki told reporters after the vote that if Israel continued to build illegal settlements, the Palestinians might pursue the ICC route.

"As long as the Israelis are not committing atrocities, are not building settlements, are not violating international law, then we don't see any reason to go anywhere," he said.

"If the Israelis continue with such policy - aggression, settlements, assassinations, attacks, confiscations, building walls - violating international law, then we have no other remedy but really to knock those to other places," Mr Maliki said.

Additional reporting: agencies