FW: 124 Out Of 193 Countries Recognize Palestinian Independence, China joins in

 

 

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From: Ed Pearl [mailto:epearlag@earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 1:00 PM
To: Ed Pearl
Subject: 124 Out Of 193 Countries Recognize Palestinian Independence, China joins in

 

 By The Associated Press and Reuters

Haaretz     Thu, August 25, 2011

 

China says it supports a Palestinian plan to seek full membership in the United Nations next month.

 

Negotiations with Israel on the terms of Palestinian statehood have been frozen since 2008. As an alternative, the Palestinians have decided to seek UN recognition of an independent "Palestine" in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.

 

The Netanyahu government adamantly opposes the Palestinian efforts to seek UN membership without a negotiated peace agreement with Israel, but many countries around the world have already promised Palestinian leaders diplomatic support for the venture.

 

China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that Wu Sike, its special envoy on the Middle East, told Palestinian leaders in a meeting in Ramallah that Beijing and the Chinese people have always supported the Palestinian cause.

 

The Foreign Ministry statement said Wu expressed understanding, respect and support for the Palestinians' bid for statehood.

 

Earlier in the week, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs also expressed support for an independent Palestinian state, saying that she hopes a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on September 2 in Poland will bring progress toward its recognition.

 

"There's the feeling that now is the time to do something, to give the Palestinians the hope that a state could become reality," Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Trinidad Jimenez said in an interview with El Pais newspaper published on Sunday.

 

President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to upgrade the Palestinians' status at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September, but it is thought that he is unlikely to emerge from that venue with full UN membership.

 

More likely is an upgrade of the Palestinian territories to become a non-member state from its current status as an observer. That would not need Security Council approval and would elevate the Palestinians' UN status to equal that of the Vatican.

 

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From: John Jones [mailto:john@13thfloor.net]
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 12:03 AM

Even though the U.S. will veto this Resolution, the numbers are encouraging.

 

John

 

http://www.imemc.org/article/61902

 

124 Out Of 193 Countries Recognize Palestinian Independence

 Sunday August 28, 2011 01:42

 

A total of 124 countries, out of 193 UN member countries, have officially declared recognition of Palestine, and the Palestinian UN move this September, to seek recognition of statehood and a full UN membership.

 

Nine of the 124 countries are among the top ten most populated countries in the World, the Maan News Agency reported.

Palestinian sources reported that Palestine is gaining momentum is international recognition, and the UN move, especially after the Spanish Foreign Minister, Trinidad Jimenez, recently called on the European Countries to support the Palestinian move. Israel was angered by the recent statement, and considered it alarming. 

Recently, both Spanish and Belgium Parliaments declared support to the Palestinian UN move. 

Maan stated that Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad Al-Maliki, is currently on a tour in several African countries, after he concluded a tour in a number of countries in South and Central America, to garner their support. 

Several envoys, dispatched by President Mahmoud Abbas, toured a number of countries that could play an essential role in aiding the Palestinians at the United Nations. 

Yet, the United States is following the lead of Israel in opposing the Palestinian move, and is waving its veto power to topple it. 

The US claims statehood can only be achieved through negotiations, but the ongoing Israeli violations, construction and expansion of settlements, especially in Jerusalem, and its rejection to recognize the legitimate Palestine rights to liberation and independence, cast legitimate doubts on Israel’s intention to achieve a just and a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Israel is trying to seek full normalization with the Arab world before a final peace agreement is reached with Israel.

In 2002, the Arab League held a summit in Beirut, headed by then Crown Prince, current King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and presented the Arab Peace Initiative. The same initiative was endorsed, once again, during the Riyadh Summit of the Arab League in 2007. 

The initiative offered full normalization between the entire Arab World and Israel, in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian and Arab territories occupied by Israel in 1967; this includes occupied East Jerusalem, the capital of the future Palestinian State.