Palestinian leaders will ask the United Nations vote by Nov. 29, 2012 on whether to admit Palestine as a non-member state. Palestinian Authority President Abbas said he would submit the bid on Nov. 29 –on the 65th anniversary of the 1947 U.N. vote calling for two states, one Jewish and one Arab, in Palestine.
The Palestinians have more than enough votes to guarantee passage of the membership resolution, with 150 of 193 nations expected to back the proposal.
Once legally approved, it will mean that Palestine will be formally recognized as a State under occupation. As an observer state, the Palestinian territories—the West Bank and Gaza—could participate in U.N. assembly debates, but could not vote.
The Palestinians could now agree to treaties and join specialized U.N. agencies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Criminal Court.
The Palestinians goal of the U.N. bid is to gain recognition of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders.
They believe this U.N. bid will protect the two-state solution and give credence to negotiations.
America and Israel have strongly opposed this move. America has no power to veto this decision in the General Assembly. If the U.N. gambit is successful, the U.S. can freeze the funds designated for the Palestinian Authority, which now receives more than $500 million in American assistance each year. Israeli officials say the Palestinians stand to lose $100 million a month in tax revenue if they go ahead with the Nov. 29 vote.
The risks to Israel are enormous.
The Palestinian could join the Law of the Sea Treaty and effectively end Israel’s blockade.
The Treaty also gives the Palestinians full sovereign rights over its airspace. The Palestinians could bring claims of violation of its airspace to the International Court of Justice.
The Palestinian authority also could dispute Israel’s claim on a gas field near Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
More troubling for Israel and the U.S. would be the Palestinian territories joining the International Criminal Court.
Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said Thursday that once the status of a Palestinian state is upgraded, the Palestinians would be able to pursue Israel for “war crimes” in the International Criminal Court. “Once we become a recognized state, we will go to all UN agencies to force the international community to take legal action against Israel,” Zaki told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper.
He said that the Palestinian Authority would consider itself free of all its commitments under the agreements signed with Israel, including economic and security obligations.
The same U.N. that acted to set up Israel in 1947 is now taking steps dismantle that decision of 65 years ago and to further divide the land. What Israel and the U.N. do not realize is that it is Gods land. Israel is the beneficiaries of Gods faithfulness to His friend Abraham.
When the world gathers for their universal destruction at the valley, will they know why? Will they remember the majority vote of 190 nations on November 29th, 2012?
Meanwhile the world forgets while God says Joel 3 v 2 I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people Israel, among the nations, and for dividing up my land.