THE POPULIST
OBAMA AT UNITED NATIONS: “THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE DESERVE A STATE OF THEIR OWN.”
“One year ago, I stood at this podium and called for an independent Palestine. I believed then – and I believe now – that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own.”
- President Barack Obama, Speech to UN General Assembly, 21 September 2011
Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law, on the bid for Palestinian statehood:
This week, President Obama has attacked the Palestinian UN membership bid as a ‘distraction’ and Secretary of State Clinton has claimed the U.S. ‘strongly supports’ the two-state solution but that the ‘way of getting a lasting solution is through direct negotiations between the parties.’
Negotiations with the Israelis were Plan A, but as I have advised the Palestinian leadership since 1987, Plan B would be to get UN full membership. The Israelis have refused to negotiate in good faith for all these years, so the Palestinians have now implemented Plan B. Far from being a distraction, a Palestinian UN bid would greatly enhance Palestinian rights. A UN member state of Palestine would be in a perfect position to bring Israeli officials before the International Criminal Court for their criminal attacks on Palestinians and illegal settlement activity. And every Palestinian living around the world would automatically become the citizen of a UN member state that is recognized by almost every state in the world. Palestinians would no longer be considered ‘stateless.’
Many have claimed that if the U.S. does indeed veto the Palestinian UN bid, the only option would be for the Palestinians to pursue upgrading Palestine’s current observer status at the UN. This is incorrect. As Palestinian diplomats have recently noted, they can get the U.N. General Assembly to admit Palestine as a UN member state pursuant to the terms of its Uniting for Peace Resolution 377 (1950). So Obama’s veto at the Security Council can be circumvented by the General Assembly through the Uniting for Peace Resolution, which was actually pioneered by the U.S. during the Korean War.
-Francis A. Boyle, Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign
Francis Boyle was legal advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organization and Chairman Yasser Arafat on the Palestinian Declaration of Independence of November 15, 1988, as well as to the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace negotiations and its Chair Dr. Haidar Abdul Shaffi from 1991 to 1993.
Francis A. Boyle is the author of Palestine, Palestinians and International Law
“We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines…”
- President Barack Obama, 19 May 2011
What America and the international community can do is to state frankly what everyone knows — a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples: Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people, each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace…
The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.
…the United States of America was founded on the belief that people should govern themselves. And now we cannot hesitate to stand squarely on the side of those who are reaching for their rights, knowing that their success will bring about a world that is more peaceful, more stable, and more just.
- President Barack Obama, 19 May 2011
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/19/remarks-president-middle-east-and-north-africa
Source: “U.S. Vetoing Palestinian State It Claims to Support”, 16 September 2011
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/49012/
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