By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker
November 16, 2009 “ABC News” — Palestinian leaders say they will ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel’s consent because of their frustration at the stalled peace process.
Palestinian leaders say they want formal recognition of an independent state based on the pre-1967 borders with Israel, which would give them Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem as their capital.
But the move appears to be largely symbolic, as a similar declaration was made in 1988 and won the support of dozens of countries but was never implemented on the ground.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has expressed frustration over the peace process with Israel, which has been stalled for a year.
“We want them to recognise the two-state solution, and instead of Palestine and instead of Israel, on the ’67 border,” he said.
“Because what the Israelis are doing, they’re trying to undermine and pre-judge and pre-empt demands that are supposed to be used for the creation of the Palestinian state.”
Israel has attacked the move, saying it will achieve nothing, and has warned it might annex parts of the West Bank that house Jewish settlements if the Palestinians act unilaterally.
The United States would also likely veto any such motion at the UN Security Council.
Speaking through an interpreter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Palestinians against going to the Security Council.
“There’s no substitute to negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us, and will only bring unilateral steps from Israel’s side,” he said.
Hamas Rejects Palestinian Statehood Push
AZA, Nov. 16 (UPI) — Seeking international recognition for a de facto Palestinian state is a waste of time, a Hamas leader said Monday.
Salah Bardweel, a spokesman for the Gaza militant group, rejected moves by the Palestinian Authority to garner international support for a unilaterally declared state, saying it wouldn’t accomplish anything toward real independence for the region’s Arabs, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Noting that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat also made unilateral declaration of statehood in 1988, Bardweel asked, “Why not declare a Palestinian state from the sea (Mediterranean) to the river (of Jordan)” rather than in the West Bank and Gaza only.
“This move is not a meaningful declaration,” Haaretz quoted Bardweel as saying. “It simply aims at escaping the benefits of resistance against the occupation. Instead of threatening to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state to be established in the air, we should work on liberating the occupied territories and end the current internal (Palestinian) division.”
Hamas’ rejection comes after Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday that Palestinians are frustrated and are turning to the U.N. Security Council for recognition after 18 years of negotiations with Israel, the newspaper said.
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