NEWS:
The UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to grant Palestine
"nonmember observer state" status. 138 countries voted yes, 9 no, and
41 abstained. Palestinians react with euphoria. The US strongly opposes the resolution.Israel and the Palestinians now both consider their next moves. Palestinians could try to seek access to global
courts. PM Netanyahu is visiting Germany in the wake of its unexpected
abstention, and condemns Pres. Abbas UN speech as "hostile and
poisonous." Abbas says he will soon visit Gaza. Many Palestinians see
the UN success as the possible prelude to national reconciliation.
Israel is marketing its antimissile defense system. A Hamas militant
is killed as war remnant ordinance explodes in Gaza. Israel says it will "retaliate" against the Palestinians by building 3,000 new settlement units, including in the highly sensitive E-1 corridor between East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
COMMENTARY:
Hussein Ibish says the PLO UN upgrade was entirely re-contextualized
by the Gaza conflict. Barak Ravid looks at how Israel lost almost all
European votes. Avi Issacharoff says Israel did Abbas a huge favor by
hyping his UN initiative as "state terror." Abbas' UN speech is
published in full. Hamas leader Meshaal says the Gaza war and the UN
upgrade are complementary. Hassan Haidar says the UN victory is a win
for Palestinian realism. The Daily Star says the UN vote was necessary
and overdue. Ahmad Majdoubeh says Britain's abstention is a big
disappointment. Imad Mrammel says Hezbollah learned important lessons
by looking at the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Raphael Ahren says the
lopsided UN vote shows even some of Israel's allies blame it for the
peace process impasse. Meir Javedanfar explains why he and some other
Israelis supported the PLO UN initiative.
American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017