Abbas seeks step closer to statehood

EXACTLY 65 years after the United Nations vote that led to the creation of Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will step before the UN General Assembly today seeking greater global recognition for his own people’s aspirations for statehood.

Although the outcome of today’s vote appeared assured – the Palestinian campaign has long commanded majority support in the assembly – and their resulting promotion from ‘‘observer’’ to ‘‘non-member observer state’’ seems a technical distinction, it has been cast as a symbolic milestone on the path to a Palestinian state.

It has also caused intense controversy and division among Western countries. The United States and Israel have opposed the initiative and warned that it could cripple an already moribund peace process, contravening commitments made in Oslo in 1993 to seek statehood through negotiations with Israel.

Members of the European Union are split over whether to support the resolution. It could afford the Palestinians access to a range of UN agencies, including the International Criminal Court, yet each agency could then expect the US to withdraw a large tranche of funding.

In the days leading up to the vote, France, Spain and Austria said they would support the Palestinians, but a German official found it ‘‘regrettable’’ that the French decision was made ‘‘before the conclusion of EU consultations’’ and a German Government spokesman suggested that his country would vote no.

British Foreign Minister William Hague told the House of Commons yesterday that he was seeking assurances, before Britain decides how to vote, that the Palestinians would not seek to extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the occupied territories.

With membership of the court, the Palestinians could seek to level war crime allegations against the Israeli military. It seems likely Britain will abstain. The Times