(MintPress) – After decades of unsuccessfully seeking member state status in the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is changing his strategy, claiming he will seek non-member status — a move that would dramatically change the playing field in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It’s not the member statehood status Palestine ultimately seeks to gain, but it does provide an avenue for Palestinians to be recognized as a state through the General Assembly, therefore authorizing them to take claims against Israeli occupation to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Abbas said at a press conference in Paris that Palestine will seek non-member status through the U.N. General Assembly if peace talks with Israel fall through. Palestine is seeking a peace negotiation with Israel, but will not do so until its neighbors stop the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
“As for negotiations, I just want to say that the ball is in Mr. Netanyahu’s court,” Abbas said at the press conference, according to the Associated Press. “If Mr. Netanyahu agrees to end the colonization and recognize the borders, we will be inclined to take steps in this direction.”
That stipulation is not likely to be met with praise by Netanyahu and his American allies, as the argument has been made since the state’s creation in 1948 that such territories belong to Israel.
In the most recent case of 2010, peace talks between Palestine and Israel fell through, as Israel continued building settlements in the West Bank.
A powerful world ally
The announcement by Abbas in Paris comes after a recent French election that hoisted now President Francois Hollande into power, taking the throne of power away from Nicolas Sarkozy.
While not as pro-Palestine as Hollande, Sarkozy in 2011 urged the UN to at least recognize Palestine as an observer state, a move that broke his typical compliance with U.S. policy toward the conflict.
Since taking office, Hollande has taken the side that Palestine should be recognized as a state, claiming that Palestine and Israel should first work out a peace plan. Recognition in the U.N. should be the second course of action, in the case that such Palestinian-Israeli talks fail, according to Hollande.
“Today, we must do everything to facilitate the recognition of a Palestinian state via a negotiated process,” Hollande said at the Paris press conference.
Having France on the side of Palestine bodes well for the territory that has come up against strong Israeli allies, mainly the U.S., in any effort to be recognized as an official state, member party to the U.N. or not.
Making the announcement in France also shows Palestine’s support from a major European nation. In order for non-member status to pass the U.N. General Assembly, it will need widespread European support. With France taking a lead, the Palestinians have a starting point for generating momentum throughout Europe.
But in their efforts to sway Europe, Palestine will come up against the influence of the U.S. The timing in which Abbas will take the non-member status vote to the General Assembly could also tremendously alter the results.
Considering U.S. President Barack Obama initially campaigned on a platform of Palestinian statehood, it is possible, if he wins a second term, that he could back down on efforts to lobby against the move. However, even that isn’t a certainty, considering the U.S. opposition last year in the Security Council to grant Palestine member statehood. If Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney takes office, he is likely to favor Israel in the discussion, a siding that would deter efforts for Palestinian statehood of any kind.
A history of turmoil
In 2011, Abbas made a large push for statehood within the U.N., one that drew Palestinians to demonstrate in the street in support of the move. At the time, the Guardian reported that 75 percent of the world’s population recognized Palestine as a state in one form or another.
Palestine’s 2011 attempt, like countless times in the past 60 years, failed, with the U.S. vetoing any efforts to move the proposal forward in the Security Council. It was a move met by criticism, considering Obama campaigned on a promise to deliver peace to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with a more sympathetic approach to the Palestinian case for recognition.
In a New York Times article following Obama’s declared opposition within the Security Council to Palestinian statehood, the president justified his actions by claiming recognizing Palestine as a state would not solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Instead, he voiced concern that peace talks should continue, ones which address Palestinian borders, specifically what will happen in the future with Jerusalem.
“Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the U.N.,” Obama said to the Security Council, according to the New York Times. “If it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now.”
While merely a symbolic gesture of recognition within the U.N., Palestine gained membership in the U.N. Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2011, following its member-state rejection. After its acceptance, the U.S. cut funding to UNESCO, as did Israel and Canada, in what was seen as a strong message of intolerance to Palestinian recognition.
Palestine was also recognized in 2011 by the Icelandic government as a state in the first ever move like it by a Western nation.