Hmmm....
Remember the David Horovitz piece I blogged a couple of months ago about the 'nightmare scenario'? Under the scenario laid out by Horovitz based on experts with whom he had a spoken, it was possible for a 14-1 vote in the UN Security Council (with the one vote being a US veto) to be declared 'deadlocked,' thereby pushing the question of 'Palestinian statehood' to the UN General Assembly. But according to the current UN General Assembly President - Joseph Deiss of Switzerland - 'Palestine' cannot be admitted to the United Nations if the United States vetoes its admission in the Security Council. The UN charter says that new members are admitted by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the 15-nation Security Council, where the United Sates, Britain, France, China and Russia are permanent members with veto powers.But the bottom line is that no state can be admitted without passing the Security Council, which means that the US has a veto.
...
He added that the issue would not go away.
"If there is a large number of member states who recognize the statehood of Palestine -- and in addition in our (General Assembly) resolution of 1947, it's already said that there should be an Arab state or a Palestinian state -- (these) are elements that you have to take into consideration," he said.
"It's really up to the member states to make this decision and the rules are given," he said, adding that the permanent Security Council members have the right to wield their veto.
Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said last week that 112 countries now recognize a sovereign Palestinian state and more are expected to recognize it in the coming months.
Two weeks ago, I would have said that it was a no-brainer that the US would veto such a resolution a year before a Presidential election with a sitting President running for re-election. Ten days ago, I started to get the feeling that Obama is just dogmatic enough not to exercise the veto and to take the chance that a few more Jews might vote against him.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, unilateral declaration of statehood, United Nations, US veto
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:56 PM
4 Comments:
Carl - the US would lose all clout with Israel if it allowed the Palestinians to do an end-run around negotiations.
Maybe Obama doesn't care about that but that would free Israel to shed its Oslo obligations and take unilateral measures to protect its own interests.
The bottom line is no US veto won't really help the Palestinians and will likely end up hurting them.
What could go wrong indeed
Have no fear - Shimon's here!
Drop dead already!
As i said before it all depends of the 'love' he carries towards Israel ,of course he will stab israel in the back when he thinks he can get away with it.
The protocol is simple - http://www.un.org/en/members/about.shtml
The recognition of a new State or Government is an act that only other States and Governments may grant or withhold. It generally implies readiness to assume diplomatic relations. The United Nations is neither a State nor a Government, and therefore does not possess any authority to recognize either a State or a Government. As an organization of independent States, it may admit a new State to its membership or accept the credentials of the representatives of a new Government.
Membership in the Organization, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, “is open to all peace-loving States which accept the obligations contained in the [United Nations Charter] and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able to carry out these obligations”. States are admitted to membership in the United Nations by decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The procedure is briefly as follows:
1. The State submits an application to the Secretary-General and a letter formally stating that it accepts the obligations under the Charter.
2. The Security Council considers the application. Any recommendation for admission must receive the affirmative votes of 9 of the 15 members of the Council, provided that none of its five permanent members — China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America — have voted against the application.
3. If the Council recommends admission, the recommendation is presented to the General Assembly for consideration. A two-thirds majority vote is necessary in the Assembly for admission of a new State.
4. Membership becomes effective the date the resolution for admission is adopted.
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