Palestinian statehood

Sometime later this month, the world community will be asked to stand up and take a moral position on Palestinians' life-long struggle for recognition of their country as an independent state. Barring extremely slim chances, President Mehmud Abbas is going to table a resolution for the United Nations recognition as its full member.
Whether the resolution would be brought before the Security Council or the General Assembly, the Palestinian leadership will decide in the next few days. But as it seems, it is quite likely that it would be first tabled in the Council where it would be certainly vetoed by the United States, and then it would come to the General Assembly which would adopt it by a vast majority vote.
Since the American veto in the Security Council would stand in the way of Palestine becoming a full member, nothing is going to stop it getting the 'Observer State' status for which the required two-thirds of the membership vote is certain - that means Palestine will have upgraded its position from the present as an 'Observer Entity' status.
It would be a historic victory for the people of Palestine, and full vindication of its decades-long, blood-drenched struggle. No other people in modern times have suffered so much as the people of Palestine, and there is no parallel to the tyranny and repressive occupation they have undergone.
The irony, however, is that only a day after the 9/11 anniversary, where President Obama took the moral high ground, he declared his intention to veto the Palestinian resolution. His argument that the resolution bid would be a "distraction" is as frivolous as his commitment to take further the peace process which is now nothing more than a withered vine with no hope of survival.
There was a time when the Palestinian leadership was fully co-operative and the peace process was moving along, until the Israelis deliberately sabotaged it, vitiating the atmosphere by its rejectionist stance on settlements. In the words of New York Times, the United States, Israel and the European Union showed "insufficient urgency or boldness" in trying to find a comprehensive solution. Such is the hollowness of the stance of the pro-Israel governments in North America and Europe that it is not more acceptable to their own people.
According to a recent opinion poll, the majority of people in UK, France and Germany want their governments to vote in favour of recognising a Palestinian state. Among other supporters is the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who says granting Palestine the statehood status by the United Nations "has been long overdue".
While Washington may not be much concerned about international isolation that its negative stance is bound to earn it, the European Union is definitely worried that vote in the UN has the potential to split it up. Even the Israeli intelligence agencies reportedly think the UN vote is going to be overwhelmingly in favour of Palestine, and accordingly have asked their government to work towards that peace process, whatever it takes.
Cast against the rapidly changing international scene, the US-spearheaded resistance against the recognition of Palestine is not only bereft of any moral and ethical justification, it also militates against the emerging ground realities in the Middle East. Turkey and Egypt, the two important regional powers, are turning away from Tel Aviv, a development, which tends to tilt the balance of power against the Zionist entity.
The fact is that the Arab Spring has changed the Middle East political landscape like nothing before, and Tel Aviv is going to lose whatever little goodwill it had in the region. The challenge the UN vote would pose to Washington would be no less lethal to America's image and clout in the Muslim world, where its excuse to deny recognition to Palestine would be considered as too flimsy and biased.
Given Israel has a powerful lobby in the US and thus the tail has been wagging the dog all along, but times have changed. That Israelis should enjoy UN membership and Palestinians should not is no more acceptable to international public opinion. Anti-Palestine group should look to the future. For it, the upcoming UN vote is an ideal opportunity to bring Palestine within the bounds of the international order, by admitting it as a member of the United Nations.