UN Votes to Recognize Palestine

[Frodo]

UN vote recognizes state of Palestine; US objects



By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS —
The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians and an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States.

The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state at the U.N. was approved by a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions, in the 193-member world body.

A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds crowded into the main square waved Palestinian flags and chanted "God is great." Others who had watched the vote on outdoor screens and television sets hugged, honked and set off fireworks before dancing in the streets.

Real independence, however, remains an elusive dream until the Palestinians negotiate a peace deal with the Israelis, who warned that the General Assembly action will only delay a lasting solution. Israel still controls the West Bank, east Jerusalem and access to Gaza, and it accused the Palestinians of bypassing negotiations with the campaign to upgrade their U.N. status.

[Frodo]

Israel is running short on allies -first they lost Turkey.  Now, they may be losing Germany as well:

Israelis stunned by Germany's abstention on U.N. Palestine vote

By Sheera Frenkel
McClatchy Newspapers

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials had long known they would be on the losing end of the U.N. General Assembly's vote on whether to grant Palestine official status as a nonmember observer state. Palestinian officials months ago had said they had gathered enough votes to win the declaration.

But it wasn't until the final votes were cast Thursday that Israeli officials realized how lopsided the outcome would be. Most stinging of all was the decision by Germany, long one of Israel's most dependable international supporters, to abstain rather than vote against the declaration.

"Germany has historically been one of our staunchest allies in Europe," said a senior Israeli diplomat who agreed to discuss the issue on condition of anonymity. "It was truly a shock they would abstain." 

[Frodo]

If they continue dickish behavior like building settlements, eventually they will lose all their allies, including the United States. Even now, outside of evangelicals, most Americans are pretty ambivalent about the situation. The Palestinians need a Gandhi/Mandela/Martin Luther King sort of figure. Are they capable of it?

I am hardly bigoted towards Muslims or Jews (unlike some here...), but even they have to admit -neither faith encourages the 'turning of the cheek' when your enemies strike at you.