Nov 29 (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations from "entity" to "non-member state," implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/palestinians-statehood-un-vote-idUSL1E8MT9K720121129

Allaahu Akbar!


Meanwhile here's US and Israel's reaction to the world's recognition of Palestine as a state:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/palestinians-statehood-idUSL1E8MT1UI20121129

3:119----------------------- "Perish in your rage; Allah knoweth well all the secrets of the heart."

Why U.S., Israel should welcome Palestinian move at U.N. by Rabbi Michael Lerner

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/28/opinion/lerner-palestinian-authority-israel/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

and I quote:

The de facto strategy of past and present Israeli governments of seeking security through domination and by pushing Palestinians out of their homes, or allowing right-wing religious fanatics to create settlements throughout the West Bank to ensure that no Palestinian state could have contiguous parts, has not and cannot work to provide safety for Israel.
Israel's fate and its well-being are intrinsically linked to the well-being of the Palestinian people. It's time for the powerful to show generosity to the relatively powerless.

So who opposes this? Hamas, Israel and the U.S.

Why Israel? Because the Likud-Beiteinu dominated government does not want a Palestinian state to emerge that would limit the ability of the Israeli settlers to expand their hold on much of the West Bank. So while they sometimes talk about a two-state solution, they have in mind a tiny state that would not be economically or politically viable.

Its strategy: Insist that it cannot negotiate seriously with the Palestinian Authority on creation of a state because the authority cannot control Hamas. With that reasoning, they ask how can Israel be expected to work with the authority on terms for a peace treaty that would actually be viable? And then simultaneously, Israel strengthens Hamas in various predictable ways.

Its first move in this direction was to pull out of Gaza militarily without negotiating for the Palestinian Authority to take over control there, de facto leaving Gaza in the hands of Hamas. If the pull-out had been done in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, there would have been no missiles and hence no "proof" that giving up land to the Palestinians would only increase Israeli vulnerability.

To keep any substantial Palestinian state from developing, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed, in the latest Gaza war (whose cease-fire is for the moment holding) to strengthen Hamas. It allowed Hamas to show that it can fight back against Israeli assault in contrast to the Palestinian Authority who, Hamas points out, has gotten nothing in return for the past five years of complete non-violence and security cooperation with the Israeli Army (IDF).

Netanyahu is not stupid, and this is an intended outcome.

The shelling of Israeli sites killed five people. Israeli bombing killed 150 Palestinians. Yet the air raids and missiles aimed at Israel again stimulated the latent post-traumatic stress disorder among Israelis that leads so many to vote for right-wing parties against their own best interests out offear of the Palestinian people, most of whom would like to live in peace with Israel.

(Palestinians told me when I visited a few weeks ago that the ongoing trauma of the occupation is so present it can't become post-traumatic).

As long as Hamas is seen as the main face of Palestinians, even centrist and left-wing Israelis will support militarism rather than peace compromises.


Why Hamas? Because Hamas' strategy is to keep their area so powerless that the Palestinian people will turn away from support for the secular and peace-oriented and nonviolence-committed Palestinian Authority. So the last thing Hamas wants is for the Palestinian Authority to win popular esteem by being seen as having "delivered" a real tangible accomplishment to the Palestinian people in the form of statehood.

To the extent that even observer status is a step in that direction, powerful elements in Hamas want to undermine it. In fact, Hamas consistently tries to undermine the Palestinian Authority. That explains why it has been so unwilling in the past years to stop its war crimes against Israeli civilians by sending (thankfully, mostly inefficient) missiles toward Sderot and other parts of southern Israel. But even as they fall short of their targets, Hamas manages to create fear and trauma for millions of Israelis.

.........................................


[Point to be noted - although until Sunday Haniyeh was saying that Hamas will not back the UN BID...it seems the leadership has changed its tone and the latest is that Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal is welcoming the decision.]

The 41 nations that abstained are: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Korea, Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, United Kingdom, Vanuatu.


Europe's voting trend:
Here are the big changes between the 2011(UNESCO membership) vote and today’s:

Five countries switched from “abstain” to “yes”: Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal, Georgia.
Three countries switched from “no” to “abstain”: Germany, Netherlands, Lithuania.
One country switched from “no” to “yes”: Sweden.
One country was absent: Ukraine, which had abstained in 2011.

Originally Posted by Roasted Cashew

Europe's voting trend

It shows a major and consistent change of sentiment across Europe that must also be influencing EU policy. Some of those that abstained are perhaps still influenced by their historical role in the Holocaust - Germany obviously but also Poland and other East European countries.

The conditions that England imposed in exchange for a vote and thank God they were turned down are an amazingly asinine way of admitting to the war criminality of Israel lol

Originally Posted by شَادِنُ

England

The correct term is 'UK', not 'England'. The UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Sure it must hurt less to have the malicious intent spread out over more area- I am more lucid at 4 am than you'll ever be in a lifetime though thanks for the tip!

Best

Originally Posted by شَادِنُ

Sure it must hurt less to have the malicious intent spread out over more area- I am more lucid at 4 am than you'll ever be in a lifetime though thanks for the tip!

No one could admire your lucidity more than you do yourself. I just wish you could invest in a better google translator. What does this 'spreading malicious intent' phrase mean?

Originally Posted by Independent

No one could admire your lucidity more than you do yourself. I just wish you could invest in a better google translator. What does this 'spreading malicious intent' phrase mean?

you must have surveyed your ego for that one? Whether an admiration of none, one or many it doesn't change the fact of the matter..might also explain your difficulty with reading and comprehension!

best,

Originally Posted by شَادِنُ

you must have surveyed your ego for that one? Whether an admiration of none, one or many it doesn't change the fact of the matter..might also explain your difficulty with reading and comprehension!

No, the problem lies with your grammar. For instance, in the above post the words 'surveyed' and 'admiration' are not used correctly. Perhaps English is not your first language.

Originally Posted by Independent

No, the problem lies with your grammar. For instance, in the above post the words 'surveyed' and 'admiration' are not used correctly. Perhaps English is not your first language.

Grammar trolling and pedantry I fear still don't deflect from the focus of the topic nor the points raised. I understand it to be your only defense mechanism at this stage. I don't seek validation from various web trolls. And you're right English isn't my first language indeed it is my third.. still managed a B.S/M.S and doctorate though with my poor grammar.. how about you, what have you managed besides beating on your chest extra hard for pointing out that England isn't the only constituent of the UK?

Originally Posted by شَادِنُ

Grammar trolling

You guessed it. I am a professional grammar troll. I also had a small part in 'Lord of the Rings.'

Originally Posted by Independent

You guessed it. I am a professional grammar troll. I also had a small part in 'Lord of the Rings.'

Good for you! I pegged you for Gollum Lorn way before you admitted to it!

best,