On Thursday PLO spokesperson Saed Erekat said the Palestinian
Authority will discuss next week when to move forward with state recognition at
the United Nations, reports Ma’an News.
The decision to petition the UN General Assembly
could be made as early as next Tuesday at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah. No
official timetable has been set for when the issue would be brought to the
floor of the United Nations but some rumors suggest it could be as early as
September.
The biggest issue facing any bid for Palestinian
statehood is not the lack of support; it is the entrenched opposition from
influential parties.
If recognition were brought to the General
Assembly the proposal could expect a strong majority of support from nations
around the world. Unfortunately, Israeli opposition and American supplication
of Israeli demands will certainly draw a veto from the United States at the UN
Security Council. The guaranteed American veto does not prevent the United
Nations from hearing the issue of Palestinian statehood, but it can limit Palestine’s
participation in the world’s most prominent international organization.
In addition to the Israeli-American imposed limit
on Palestinian participation at the UN, there is also the very serious threat
of Israeli-American economic sanctions on the impoverished and occupied nation.
Both countries have threatened to cut off significant amounts of aid and relief
money if Palestine chooses to go forward with its plans, according to Haaretz.
The United States has already back out of funding several international
organizations in protest to their recognition of Palestine.
The issue of funding is perhaps the most ominous
obstacle for the Palestinian Authority to overcome. Ramallah is already
overwhelmed by fiscal crises, the loss of even more aid and relief money could
devastate communities that rely on foreign grants for support.
