Palestine Remembered, al-Nakba 1948- פלשתינה-فلسطين في الذاكرة Israel-Palestine: The Missing Headlines On Palestine, the US is a rogue state | John Whitbeck On 17 December, Bolivia extended diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine within its full pre-1967 borders (all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem). Coming soon after the similar recognitions by Brazil and Argentina, Bolivia's recognition brought to 106 the number of UN member states recognising the state of Palestine, whose independence was proclaimed on 15 November, 1988. While still under foreign belligerent occupation, the state of Palestine possesses all the customary international law criteria for sovereign statehood. In this context, it may be enlightening to consider the quality as well as the quantity of the states extending diplomatic recognition. Of the world's nine most populous states, eight (all except the US) recognise the state of Palestine. As in most aspects of international relations, it is not the nature of the act (or crime) that matters but, rather, who is doing it to whom.
American-Israeli bluffs and the success of Palestinian unilateralism (UPDATED) Mahmoud Abbas has told Newsweek he is disappointed with Obama, but the US President has actually done a nice job of revealing the American double-standards with regards to Israel. Meanwhile, Jerusalem’s hawks are suggesting that in response to a Palestinian declaration of independence, Israel should annex the West Bank. Not such a bad idea UPDATE: See my comments on the Fatah-Hamas agreement at the end of the post First Lady Michelle Obama, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas & President Barack Obama (photo: Lawrence Jackson/United States Government Work) Newsweek has an interesting interview with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. The US has vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding Israel would stop all settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and in recent weeks the administration has stepped up his rhetoric against the attempt to get UN recognition for a Palestinian state. There is zero chance that the Israeli Prime Minister will deliver any kind of solution.
Palestine, Bahrain and US Hyprocrisy Brazen hypocrisy most often deeply damages the reputation, whether of a person or of a country. President Barack Obama appears to have thought that he could go to the UN with a liberation of Libya and a further postponement of Palestinian rights to boast of, and that these stances would make him popular in the global south. But in fact he just looked inconsistent and hypocritical and self-interested. The United States was not at the forefront of the changes sweeping the Middle East in the past year, and its instinct as a Great Power is to support the status quo. Thus, the Obama administration had almost nothing to say about Tunisia until after the populace had forced their president out. It was Saudi Arabia, France and Britain who decided that Muammar Qaddafi would have to go. In the meantime, the US has done little but say tsk, tsk over the crushing of the street movement for reform in Bahrain. The Palestinians are stateless. Foreign policy victories are rare.