Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wallerstein: The Coming Israeli Tsunami?

 It is hard to see the Europeans refusing to vote for the resolution (for formal recognition of Palestinian statehood by the UN General Assembly). We could easily arrive at a vote with only Israel, the US, and a very few tiny countries voting against, and perhaps a few abstentions, notes Immanuel Wallerstein.
 
Middle East Online, June 15, 2011

The Palestinians are pursuing their project of seeking a formal recognition of their statehood by the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes in the fall. They intend to request a statement that the state exists within the boundary lines as they existed in 1967 before the Israeli-Palestinian war. It is almost certain that the vote will be favorable. The only question at the moment is how favorable.

The Israeli political leadership is well aware of this. There are three different responses that are being discussed by them. The dominant position seems to be that of Prime Minister Netanyahu. He proposes ignoring such a resolution totally and simply continuing to pursue the Israeli government’s present policies. Netanyahu believes that, for a very long time, there have been resolutions adopted by the U.N. General Assembly that have been unfavorable to Israel, all of which Israel has successfully ignored. Why should this one be any different?

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