Sunday, September 25, 2011

Shaath: We will push for quick UN vote

A Palestinian boy holds a flag in front of members of the Palestinian Authority
security forces in Ramallah, before a celebration upon President Mahmoud
Abbas' return from New York, Sept. 25, 2011. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Senior PLO official Nabil Shaath said Sunday that the Palestinian UN team would push for a vote on their application for full UN membership "as soon as possible."

President Mahmoud Abbas asked UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday to submit an application for membership to the UN Security Council, which accepted the bid and said it would begin deliberations Monday.

Shaath told Ma'an that the presidents of nine countries in the 15-member council had promised to vote in favor of Palestine's bid to join the UN as a full member.

Nigeria, India and Gabon are among the countries who have pledged their support, said Shaath, a member of the Palestinian UN delegation.

The resolution needs nine votes to pass, but it will be thwarted if the US follows through on its vow to veto Palestine's admission to the world body. Shaath said US President Barack Obama's position was influenced by the 2012 US presidential elections.

"We won't help Obama to win the new elections at the expense of the Palestinian cause."

He added: "No one will make us retreat in order to save him from the embarrassment (...) Obama prefers to yield to the Zionist lobby but he will lose a lot in the Arab region."

Shaath dismissed US threats to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority, saying that the government would look to Arab countries for funding.

"We won’t give up the Palestinian cause for some dollars."

Commenting on Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jiminez's reference to Israel as a "Jewish state" in her address to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Shaath noted that elections were on the horizon in Spain.

"It's a wrong position and could be the result of pressure as elections in Spain are soon but we should not pay the price."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on President Mahmoud Abbas to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state" in his speech to the General Assembly on Friday.

Shaath said the PLO would not comply to the request.

"We won't recognize a Jewish state (...) They will desert one and a half million Palestinians inside Israel if we recognize that, which is impossible."


Shaath: We will push for quick UN vote

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