Israel Matzav

'Palestinians' plan to go back to Security Council

Ben Birnbaum reports from Ramallah that the 'Palestinians' are planning to return to the UN Security Council in a bid for 'statehood' without negotiations.

Mr. Saidam and other Palestinian officials told The Washington Times that, barring a last-minute development Thursday, the U.N. campaign would begin anew.

A return to the U.N. would rile the U.S., which has vowed to veto the Palestinian application for membership in the Security Council. The U.S. was spared the headache of a veto in September because the Palestinians failed to gain a nine-vote majority.

“We got 8 3/4,” Mr. Saidam said.

The entire U.N. campaign has attained great symbolism here. A giant blue chair bearing the words “Palestine’s Right: Full Membership in the United Nations” still sits in Ramallah’s central square.

A wall of Mr. Abbas‘ presidential compound features a giant photo of him holding up the Palestinian application during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

...

But the U.N. campaign is just one aspect of what many Palestinian officials describe as the “South Africanization” of their struggle — an approach that seeks to isolate Israel diplomatically while engaging in mass nonviolent protests.

“We can learn from the South African struggle against apartheid that international activism works,” said Nabeel Shaath, Fatah’s commissioner for international relations. “You don’t really have to shoot in order to get your rights.”

Mr. Shaath said it was “absolutely” a mistake for Palestinians to militarize the second intifada — the 2000-2005 uprising that claimed about 4,000 Palestinian and 1,000 Israeli lives amid suicide bombings and Israeli military strikes.

“I have no qualms about telling you, yes, it was [a mistake],” Mr. Shaath said. “It was not supposed to have gone military, and it did get out of hand. We are much more careful this time around.”

Mr. Saidam, the Abbas adviser, posited that a third uprising could be “an electronic intifada,” citing this week’s hacking attack on Israel’s stock exchange and national airline, as well as Facebook campaigns calling for the boycott of Israeli goods.

“When I talk about a third intifada, I’m not advocating, nor am I anticipating, a repetition of the scenes of the past,” he said. “It will be a clever, more technology-based approach.”

Mr. Saidam and others said their pessimism about the peace process springs from their belief that Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing government is not as serious about peace as its center-left predecessor.

The 'Palestinians' can't say this now, but if Obama wins, I don't think anyone believes he'll use that veto after January 20, 2013 except for the delusional American Jews.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), United Nations Security Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:21 AM