Until this morning, Germany together with the USA, Canada,
Guatemala and let’s not forget Micronesia were the only countries that were
about to vote against the Palestinian bid to become a non-member-observer-state
at the UN. Now it seems that Germany has decided to abstain.
Senior Israeli government spokesmen – in various tones of
brutality - have warned that if Abbas would go to the UN it would be the end of
the Palestinian Authority. But then, the Israeli government has been doing its
utmost to dismantle the Palestinian Authority anyway. The way the vote is
going, Israel is being shown what the world thinks of its conduct and its
policies. It is sadly fast becoming a pariah state.
It must have been a hard decision for Mrs. Merkel. Supporting
Israeli governments has been one of the means by which German governments have
attempted to make reparation by supporting the Jewish people after the Holocaust.
Yet, had Germany voted against the Palestinian bid, it would have done so
against German public sentiment. Israeli policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians, its
arrogant obstinacy and its deteriorating moral values have become too much even
for Germany. Germans are becoming more and more anti-Israel.
Not only Germany, Israel too - instead of opposing - should
vote for the Palestinian bid.
Das ist schon sehr tapfer von dir, so etwas zu schreiben. Du bist Israeli und es fällt dir sicherlich auch schwer, eine angemessene Position zu beziehen....
ReplyDeleteI have long been of view that as the result is inevitable it is time to accept that this is what is going to happen and hope that P A remember that you don’t get an agreement by grandstanding at UN but rather by negotiating as per the obligation in Oslo II.......
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alex.
ReplyDeleteThe votes at the UN are gesture politics. If that's what the Pals want, the governments of the world either voted in favour (most of the non-aligned movement) or abstained (most of the rest of the world). Since the notion of recognising a non-existent Pal state with some form of observer status achieves nothing other than a type of pyrrhic victory for the Pals, why run the risk of upsetting the powerful Arab oil lobby, as you correctly indicate. The downside does not equal the upside.
As for UN resolutions, are they supposed to be the litmus test for righteousness? There was little outrage in the world when that august body declared in 1975, in a similar full UN General Assembly motion, that Zionism equalled racism. It took a 16 years for that decision to be revoked.
Among many other anti-Israel UN General Assembly resolutions over the years, there was a similar castigation and condemnation of Israel for the bombing of the Iraqi Atomic reactor at Osirisk in 1981. The world later learned to be grateful.
The UN did not come to the aid of Israel as thousand of Hamas rockets over the last few years were launched at civilian (yes, civilian)targets. Why not? How many Security Council debates were called? None - until Israel retaliated that is. Come to think of it, very few countries even bothered to speak out on the subject. Too complicated, too boring, no upside in getting involved in something so complicated. The western media hardly bothered to report it at all.
The UN is truly a theatre of the absurd. No wonder it is not held in high esteem by any Israeli governement. Courting public opinion is not necessarily the way to survive in this world.
Sadly, I have little faith in politicians and even less in diplomats. The waters are deep and murky.
Michael
Would someone please explain why getting observer-status equals a pyrrhic victory and why everyone just seems to be taking the Israeli "retaliation" of errecting 3000 more homes in stride? It seems to me if and when the two parties meet again there will not even be the faintest chance at the two state solution- status quo will have taken care of everything... Both sides have their own troublemakers. Some years ago I read the works of David and Leigh Eddings and found this passage I'm going to share with you. Sadly some things are just not going to change...
ReplyDelete„It ´s been said that the quest for truth is the noblest occupation of man, but there be dragons lurking in the dark forests of ignorance. And the names of these dragons are “Incompetence” and “Political Bias” and “Deliberate Distortion” and “Sheer, Wrongheaded Stupidity”. Our gallant friends here [in Contemporary History] sallied forth to do battle with these dragons in their recently published work. It is with the deepest regret that I must inform you that the dragons won.” Found just so in Hidden City: Book Three of The Tamuli, Prologue. Seems to be dragons still are winning...
K