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Statehood Bid at UN

Palestine defies US warning

AFP, United Nations
The Palestinians yesterday careened towards a clash with Washington over their UN statehood bid despite a stern warning from President Barack Obama that there was no "shortcut" topeace.
A hard-hitting speech by Obama and a personal meeting with Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday failed to sway the Palestinian leader from a vow to apply for membership on Friday, as diplomats struggled to
avert the showdown.
However, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said any UN Security Council vote on the Palestinian bid would take weeks, giving diplomats time to work on proposals to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
And Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said Abbas will give "some time to the Security Council to consider first our full membership request before heading to the
General Assembly" to seek enhanced observer status.
With US credibility and influence in the Middle East at stake, Obama wants to dissuade the Palestinians from asking the UN Security Council for full statehood in the teeth of Israeli anger and a US threat to use its veto if it came to a vote.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy meanwhile launched his own bid to ease tensions by calling
for the Palestinians to be granted UN observer state membership as a prelude to new talks.
Obama's address to the UN General Assembly, in which he reiterated his opposition to the Palestinian bid for UN membership, and empathised with Israel's struggle in a hostile region without mentioning the occupation or Jewish settlements, has sparked almost unanimous condemnation across the Palestinian territories.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians took part in rallies to back Abbas on Wednesday.
Both Israel and the United States insist that only direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations can set up a peace deal that could lead to the creation of a new state.
"I am convinced that there is no shortcut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades," Obama told the UN General Assembly.
He did not mention the US threat to veto the Security Council bid, but
said: "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN — if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now."
Obama insisted Israelis and Palestinians must sit down to "reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem."
For Obama, the confrontation is an embarrassment because 12 months ago he stood before the same assembly and called for Palestinian membership in the United Nations within a year.
He later met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he deserved a "badge of honour" for his defence of the Jewish state. The meeting with Abbas brought no change in the position of either side, officials said.
The Israeli press yesterday said Obama's speech was hugely supportive of the Jewish state, while Palestinian observers said it proved the United States could not be an honest broker in resolving the conflict.
The diplomatic Quartet — the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — has been struggling to cobble together a virtually identical plan that would revive talks frozen for the past year.
The Palestinians have said that if there is a US veto at the Security Council, they will go to the UN General Assembly to seek an elevated observer status, similar to the one given to the Vatican. The veto won't be needed if they can not secure 9 votes out of its 15 members.
Five members — Brazil, China, Lebanon, Russia and South Africa -- have expressed support for the move. Colombia has said it will abstain and the remaining members, except for the United States, are thus far undecided.
A General Assembly vote would only require a simple majority and could not be vetoed. Israel fears that even observer status would allow the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court and file complaints against it.