Thursday, October 06, 2011

How to Block the Palestine Statehood Ploy

John Bolton wrote:

In late 1988, Palestinians issued a "declaration of statehood," changing their U.N. observer delegation's name from "Palestine Liberation Organization" to "Palestine" to sound more like a state, which scores of countries recognized. The Palestinians then campaigned to join U.N. bodies like the World Health Organization, reasoning that since U.N. agency charters allow only states as members, the admission of "Palestine" would prove that it, too, was a state.

Ridiculous in the real world but not in the U.N., the PLO effort gained overwhelming support there. George H.W. Bush's new administration and Israel protested that "Palestine" manifestly did not meet customary international law definitions of statehood, such as having a clearly defined territory and exercising a government's legitimate domestic and international responsibilities. Third World countries rallied almost unanimously to the PLO, and Europe's response was weak. European diplomats believed Washington's opposition was merely pro forma due to the "Jewish lobby."
Faced with the near certainty of defeat, Secretary of State James Baker warned publicly: "I will recommend to the President that the United States make no further contributions, voluntary or assessed, to any international organization which makes any changes in the PLO's status as an observer organization."

No politician of Mr. Baker's skill would publicize his proposals unless he knew that the president would accept them, and this reality was rapidly understood internationally. Although defeating the PLO campaign required further maneuvering, Mr. Baker's statement was the death knell of the "statehood" push.

As we all know, a few weeks ago Mahmoud Abbas submitted the application for full membership into the UN. While a review panel currently examines the application, the Palestinians are in a way repeating the action of 1988. Today we learned that:

Palestinians moved a step closer to full membership of the U.N. cultural agency [UNESCO] on Wednesday when its board decided to let 193 member countries vote on admission this month.

200 million has already been frozen by Congress. Now, lawmakers are threatening to cut off funds to UNESCO. Will Obama support it? Will he be forced to?We shall soon find out.

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