The Coming UN Crisis

By Michael Curtis

President Obama has spoken in recent weeks of his aim to encourage Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. That aim will be hindered and perhaps permanently derailed in September 2011, if the United Nations General Assembly passes the Palestinian Authority's unilateral declaration of independence and establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority is using legal methods for political advantage in seeking international approval to establish a state on the principle of self-determination. Looking at history shows that this action is not as straightforward as it may seem. If the UN passes the resolution, it will then be complicit in the continuing Palestinian policy of refusing to acknowledge the existence and legitimacy of Israel. A unilateral declaration will not only challenge Israel but also would present problems for the United States and the Western democratic world. The resolution would call for a Palestinian state along the 1949 cease-fire, armistice lines. This is both a questionable proposition and an act of bad faith. The resolution would be based on the UN General Assembly.... (Read Full Article)