Tuesday, September 20, 2011

ATFP's Hussein Ibish... Palestine and Kosovo: "virtual statehood" vs. de facto statehood

September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Now Lebanon
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=313426
Palestine between fact and fiction

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement that he intends to seek full United Nations membership from the Security Council raises a wide range of interesting, and in some ways alarming, scenarios for the coming weeks. However, the move is unlikely to ultimately bring Palestinians any closer to actual independence.

Abbas knows that if such a vote ever takes place at the Security Council, the United States is committed to vetoing it. There is even some question whether the Palestinians can achieve a nine-vote majority in favor of a state, with Israel’s UN ambassador citing Portugal as a key swing vote that might prevent such a majority.

Either way, Palestinians cannot win full UN membership at this stage, no matter how much they want or deserve it. Indeed, there are numerous procedural methods in which this request can get bogged down in the UN apparatus for weeks, months, even indefinitely....READ MORE

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