U.N. Recognition of Palestine as a State Gains Momentum
November 24, 2014
AP- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said
Monday the international community's failure to advance a political
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is spurring governments and
parliaments to take action to recognize the state of Palestine — and
"that momentum will grow."
The U.N. chief
said at the U.N. commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity
with the Palestinian People that the international community must assume
"a collective failure" for not being able to get a peace deal.
"Indeed — as we see around the world — governments and parliaments are taking action," Ban said.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, in a statement read at the commemoration,
welcomed changes in popular sentiment in the West that have reached
"official political levels," starting with Sweden's recognition of the
state of Palestine and the overwhelming motions supporting recognition
by parliaments in Britain, Ireland and Spain.
He
said these actions, and upcoming votes in France and other European
countries, are "positive developments which enhance the opportunities
for peace and security and stability in the region."
"Does Israel, the occupying power, understand all of the messages in this regard?," Abbas asked.
Israel's
U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told the General Assembly later Monday that
Sweden and European parliaments supporting recognition of a Palestinians
are taking away any incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate,
compromise or renounce violence and are giving them exactly what they
want — "statehood without peace."
Secretary-General
Ban warned that incitement and provocative acts at the holy sites in
Jerusalem "are fanning the flames of conflict far beyond the holy city."
"Extremists
on both sides are dictating the agenda," Ban said. "I call on the
parties to step back from the brink and find the path of peace before
hope and time run out."
Much
of the recent violence has stemmed from tensions surrounding Jerusalem's
hilltop complex that is revered by Muslims and Jews. The collapse of
U.S.-brokered peace talks, Israel's war last summer in the Gaza Strip
against the Islamic militant group Hamas, and continued Israeli
settlement construction in east Jerusalem have added to
Israeli-Palestinian distrust.
Abbas
accused Israel of trying to alter or erase the Palestinian and
Christian and Muslim presence in Jerusalem and of taking measures aimed
at turning East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of
their future state, into a Jewish area.
Prosor
accused Abbas of inciting violence against Jews at the Jerusalem
hilltop complex. He said Israel "will make sure that the holy places
remain open to all people of all faiths for all time."
Abbas
reiterated that the Palestinians are seeking a U.N. Security Council
resolution that would set November 2016 as the deadline for Israeli
troops to withdraw from all Palestinian territory. Palestinian U.N.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour indicated there will not be a vote in November.
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