World demand fair UN ruling on Palestine

NEW YORK. Leaders of both Israel and Palestine spoke about extending their hands in peace at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday afternoon. Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said he was prepared to return to the negotiating table, while Prime Minister Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu said peace talks could immediately begin in New York.

Abbas had earlier submitted an application for a full membership in the UN, a desperate unilateral move born out of frustration for all previous failed negotiations to secure peace. As for Israel, no amount of UN resolutions could ever hold it accountable for continuously building settlements on lands obtained through evictions of Palestinians, indirectly killing any chance for peace talks. The world has long questioned its intentions.

Abbas also made it clear in his speech that a peace negotiation could only begin if Israel acknowledge the 1967 borders and completely terminate all settlement activities. Netanyahu, on the other hand, refused any kind of preconditions to starting negotiations.

The real progress towards peace in the Middle East now officially lies with the UN Security Council. An approval of at least nine out of 15 members of the Council is required before the rest of UN members could vote on the application.

Adhering to Abbas’ plea to expedite the application process, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon submitted the application on Friday to the president of the Security Council, currently chaired by Lebanon. A meeting of all Council members is scheduled on Monday.

Scepticism looms over the process in the Security Council. Some fear the application would be left indefinitely idle, as there is no set time frame to guide the process. Palestinian Authority officials have also said attempts had been made by the US to intimidate non-permanent members of the Council to avoid the need to exercise a veto.

On the likelihood of gathering nine votes at the Council, a Palestinian negotiator told The Jakarta Post the Palestinian Authorities had won the commitment of nine members of the council. “Nine votes are already in our hands,” said the negotiator. Other sources, however, said one of the nine voters, Nigeria, under pressure from the US and Israel, would likely abstain.

Approval by the majority of Council members will be left with the US with the final option of a veto, which would further damage its credibility as a peace maker between Israel and Palestine. France President Nicolas Sarkozy even predicted a US veto risks engendering a cycle of violence in the Middle East.

To prevent such a chain of events, on Wednesday Sarkozy suggested the UN issue a resolution to upgrade the representation of Palestinians in the UN to an observer state status. Such status would mean the UN recognize Palestine’s statehood. In conjunction, he said Israel and Palestine should complete peace negotiations within one-year.

Sarkozy’s proposal was chosen by the so-called Quartet on the Middle East on Friday, not long after Abbas submitted the Palestinian application. The Quartet consisted of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said there is no way to predict what would happen following the Friday application. “The matter is now in the hands of the Security Council. One thing is evident, however, from the announcement of the Palestinian application, the majority of the world stands behind them.” (Andi Haswidi/The Jakarta Post)