David Singer

Palestine - UNESCO Membership May Be Unconstitutional

Palestine's membership of UNESCO could be under serious legal threat - as the vote approving such admission comes under increasing scrutiny.

Palestine - War Monger Not Peace Lover

Amid all the hogwash that passes for political commentary - it is apparent that the 15 members of the Security Council are facing a huge dilemma in deciding whether to recommend the admission of Palestine to the United Nations as its 194th member - after deliberating on the application now for more than six weeks.

Palestine - UNESCO Rebuffs PLO Huffs and Puffs

The PLO application seeking admission of Palestine to the UN has been dealt a serious blow - after 86 of its 193 members failed to support a mirror application for Palestine to join UNESCO.

Palestine - Peace, Petulance, Posturing and Pollard

Two significant - yet seemingly unrelated - events have occurred during the past week within the ongoing Jewish-Arab conflict:

Palestine - Abbas Gets Lost In The Translation

PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been often criticized for making statements in English that are contradicted by other statements made by him in Arabic. Abbas has continued this art of doublespeak first perfected by his predecessor Yasser Arafat - tailoring his views to the audience that he is addressing.

Palestine - Sarkozy Makes Monumental Mistake

France’s President - Nicolas Sarkozy - has made a mistake of historic proportions - possibly dashing any hope of the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs coming to fruition - after he told the French magazine Le Canard Enchaîne:

"It is silly to talk about a Jewish state,"

Palestine - Fixing The Figures, Fudging The Facts

As the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly continue to consider the PLO application for the State of Palestine to be admitted as the 194th member of the UN - there is concern in Jordan that approval of such application could:

Palestine - UN Farce Promises Theater Of The Absurd

The appearance of Mahmoud Abbas at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September was reportedly met with “rapturous applause” by those present to witness this latest farce in the ongoing efforts to create a new Arab State between Israel and Jordan for the first time ever in recorded history.

Palestine - Telling The UN Some Home Truths

Israel’s Prime Minister - Benjamin Netanyahu - has announced his intention to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week in connection with the proposed application by the PLO for recognition of a Palestinian Arab State along the 1949 armistice lines.

Palestine - Will Acceptance Ever Replace Rejection?

The expulsion of Israel’s ambassador from Turkey and the forced withdrawal of Israel’s entire diplomatic corps from Egypt have become the catalysts to ensure further virulent assaults on the Jewish people at the Durban 111 Conference on Racism to be held in New York next week and the UN meeting shortly thereafter to possibly consider a resolution calling for the recognition of a Palestinian Arab State. Both of these meetings will set the stage for further violent confrontations between Israel and its neighbours unless steps are taken to end the Jewish people being singled out, vilified and dehumanised in an orgy of Jew-hatred to virtually the exclusion of any other human rights abuses taking place around the world at the very time these meetings are taking place.

Palestine - Will The UN Endorse Ethnic Cleansing?

Two of the many intriguing matters facing the United Nations in dealing with any proposal to seek recognition of a Palestinian Arab State along the 1967 lines - are:

1. Who will make such application on behalf of the Palestinian Arabs?
2. What conditions will the United Nations demand to ensure that up to 500000 Jews living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will not ultimately face arbitrary expulsion as a result of its decision?

Palestine - United Nations Faces The Music

The horrendous news of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Nigeria’s capital - Abuja - reportedly by a radical Islamist group - killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 60 other persons - has been rightly described by the United Nations Security Council as a “heinous crime”.

Palestine - Jerusalem Challenges The United Nations

Jerusalem's continued existence as an undivided city will remain unaffected by any United Nations (UN) decision recognizing a Palestinian Arab State based on the June 1967 armistice lines.

Palestine - Duping The United Nations

Dr Ghassan Khatib, the Special Envoy of the unelected and unconstitutional Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, last week addressed the Capital Jewish Forum in the Victorian Parliament House. He was introduced by Mr Izzat Abdulhadi, Palestinian Authority Head of Delegation to Australia. Dr Khatib told his audience he was in Australia to lobby the Australian Government:

“ to start off the Palestinian official initiative that is bringing several Palestinians to several parts of the world .”

Palestine - Is Obama Honoring The Bush Pledge?

A report this week claims that President Obama has now decided to honor the terms of a letter given by former President George Bush to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on 14 April 2004. That letter can best be described as a pledge - given its contents and the circumstances in which it was written by President Bush to Prime Minister Sharon - who had also handed President Bush a letter at the same time setting out Israel’s proposal to unilaterally disengage from Gaza and part of the West Bank.

Palestine - Ending the Pretending, Facing the Facts

The debate in the Security Council this week on the situation in the Middle East was the last before the opening of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly - affording the United States an opportunity to state its position and issue a warning to those thinking of pushing for the recognition of a Palestinian State in September. United States Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN - Rosemary Dicarlo - stated America’s position unequivocally and unconditionally when she stated:

Palestine - United Nations Needs Reality Check

Speculation continues to mount that the United Nations (UN) will be approached in September to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian Arab State in the West Bank and Gaza for the first time in recorded history - without regard to considering the right in international law of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in the same area.

Palestine - Quartet Misses The Beat

The utter futility inherent in pursuing the two- state solution - the creation of a 22nd Arab State between Israel and Jordan - was brought home this week when the most powerful negotiating team ever assembled in history - the Quartet - was unable to come up with a jointly acceptable statement to persuade Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume direct negotiations. The Quartet comprises America, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

Palestine - The Kiss of Death

Jordan’s King Abdullah is clearly worried about the future direction of his country - if developments over recent weeks are any indication. His Majesty told the Washington Post on 16 June:

"2011 will be, I think, a very bad year for peace, Although we will continue to try to bring both sides to the table, I am the most pessimistic I have been in 11 years."

Palestine - Testing the World’s Patience

The Palestinian Authority headed by an unelected President - Mahmoud Abbas - and an unelected Prime Minister - Salam Fayyad - continue to live in a fantasy dream world. Talks to replace the Fayyad Government with yet another unelected Government comprising the two arch rival Palestinian factions - Hamas and Fatah - continue to founder despite the pomp and fanfare that accompanied the signing of a heads of agreement between them in Cairo on 4 May. On 29 June, Fatah and Hamas were reported to have agreed to delay the formation of the unity government until after the expected United Nations vote on Palestinian Arab statehood in September. The official Saudi Press Agency said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas relayed the proposal to Hamas through Turkey, which has reportedly sought to resolve obstacles to reconciliation.