Brasília – This Friday (23), the Palestinian National Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, submitted a formal request for the United Nations (UN) to recognize the Palestinian State, and award it full UN membership.
According to a statement issued by the UN, Abbas met with the organization’s secretary general this morning in New York, and handed him a formal request for recognition.
The request will be considered by the UN Security Council and then the General Assembly.
According to BBC Brazil, during his General Assembly address, Abbas stated that the “time has come” for his people to “come to peace.”
“At a time when Arab people affirm their fight for democracy, in the so-called Arab Spring, the time has also come for the Palestinian spring, a time for independence,” said Abbas. He stated that the international recognition of a Palestinian State “would be the greatest contribution for peace” in the Middle East.
The request should be met with resistance from the United States, which has veto power in the Security Council.
The Palestinians call for a state based on its 1967 borders, which comprise the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. The territories are currently occupied by Israel, which vehemently opposes the Palestinian request. The Israeli government claims that by filing its request with the UN, Palestine is adding to bilateral tension instead of solving pending disputes between the two sides.
Last Wednesday, the United president, Barack Obama, backed that claim by stating that “there are no shortcuts” to peace in the Middle East.
In his address, Abbas said his request to the UN aims to provide “legitimacy” to the negotiations, which are now stuck. Abbas made several mentions to one of the major impasses in the dialogues: the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. The settlements, though regarded by Israel as legitimate, are not recognized by international law.
“The settlements are the foundation of colonialist policy and the primary reason why the peace process has failed,” said the Palestinian president, who was greeted with applause on several occasions during his address.
The address was broadcast to cities in the West Bank, at a time when Palestine is stepping up its diplomatic efforts to obtain recognition from the UN, as well as recognition from individual countries (including Brazil’s, which was formally granted during the administration of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva). “Our people are awaiting a reply from the world,” said Abbas, who claimed that there is a split between those who judge the Palestinian people to be “disposable” and those who believe that “the Middle East is missing one state.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
