US Must Back Palestinian Bid for Statehood
Ibrahim Sharqieh, Brookings Doha Center | August 10, 2011
With Israel evidently unwilling to negotiate, a UN vote on Palestinian recognition is the only road to creating a state. ++ Statehood alone will not resolve Israeli-Palestinian tensions, but the “long overdue” recognition would bring a level of equality to Palestinian negotiations with Israel and a measure of stability to the region. ++ Moreover, "the recognition of group identity is a basic and universal human need". The US must unequivocally support this cause to build the foundation for future relationships built on recognition and mutual respect.
Thu, Aug 11th 2011, 04:49
Jennifer Nicole Prystupa, NYU-CGA grad student, Silver Contributor (45)
On the flip side, the US refuses to condemn settlement expansions in UN resolutions and the entirety of this 60 year conflict in the venue of the UN, and would rather see this entire fiasco settled outside of court, per say. The promise of a veto come September is all but guaranteed, but the threat that the Palestinians will continue has the Americans and Israelis scuttling around for some kind of silver bullet before then.
What Mr. Sharqieh has failed to articulate are the reasons why the US will not support a Palestinian statehood declaration at the UN:
-Despite the Arab Spring, there is no popular movement to solve the conflict within Israel. Granted, there is movement to first settle the domestic issues regarding Israeli quality of life issues, but without Israeli popular support, why pressure Netanyahu? It took decades for the Israelis to speak up on their own agendas, though I hope it won't take another 10 years or so for them to see the political continuity between the domestic and international.
-Human rights and human needs issues abroad are tied to the national interest. This is why the US, for the purpose of protecting human rights and/or fulfilling national security interest, went into in Libya, Iraq (supposedly), Afghanistan (perhaps retroactively), Kosovo and not Bahrain, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, etc. Speculation grants that the US is involved in all those areas in some form or another, but what the people want is something clear cut and public, not secretive. Is supporting a Palestinian state in US national interest? sure it is, especially with the Arab world changing, but...
-The machine that is the US Congress is and will be openly pro-Israel, especially if AIPAC remains influential and the Evangelical Christians continue to be politically active. The latter is extremely true given the past Congressional election. This is why an aid package is under threat to be cut-off but continued settlement expansion condemnation remains toothless. Religious ideology in American foreign policy is very strong and something that is an area of interest of mine. There is little support for a pro-Palestinian lobby in the US and if there is, I have never heard it speak.
If the US does veto, that doesn't mean that the UNGA, and the very active Europeans, will not recognize it. Then what? Does the US not recognize a state that it vetoed? This will be interesting. I hope that a rabbit will be pulled out of a hat and the UN vote is either pushed forward or stopped if there is a tangible and fair agreement to come to the table.
For those interested in further reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-howard-sumka/political-elites-have...