Israel Matzav

'Palestinians' going to UN despite US

Chief 'Palestinian' negotiator bottle washer Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that the 'Palestinians' will go to the United Nations Security Council despite a US request that they not do so.

Saeb Erekat told Ma'an that “The Americans don’t want anything to be submitted to the Security Council, but we insist that we consider the Security Council our path toward international legitimacy.”

Erekat said the Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, was scheduled to consult all UN groups in order to determine when to submit the draft resolution, which has already been worded.

“We don’t want the draft resolution to be vetoed by the US,” Erekat added highlighting that the PA has been involved in consultations with Arab, regional, and international players including the US.

The draft resolution, according to Erekat, is based on international positions including the US stance, which was expressed in President Barack Obama’s speech at the University of Cairo and in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments three weeks ago.

It condemns settlement construction as an illegal action and applies the Geneva Convention, signed in 1947, on the occupied Palestinian territories including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The resolution is also meant as a request to end settlement activities so as to resume negotiations on final status issues.

“In case the US vetoes the resolution, we know that at least we have tried and used all available means. We will not abstain from doing what we can do just because we think this side or another will oppose it,” Erekat added.

The PLO official reiterated that Israel was responsible for thwarting the peace process when it chose settlement construction at the expense of peace.

“The Israelis are responsible for the collapse of the peace process, not only at Israeli-Palestinian level, but they are also responsible for the repercussions of that collapse in the whole region because the policy they chose leads to chaos, extremism and bloodshed.”

Unfortunately, I would say that there's a good chance that the US will not veto that resolution.

Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Saeb Erekat, settlement freeze, UN Security Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:46 PM