Saturday September 24, 2011

I've Been Thinking:

Tensions have peaked in the United Nations. Now we can begin to understand what has been happening these past few days.

It all climaxed midday on Friday when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered his speech. When he reached the rostrum, Abbas was welcomed with a loud ovation. When he lifted a hard copy of the proposal for Palestinian membership the applause grew louder. There was energy in the room, almost every speaker before him had mentioned Palestinian statehood.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyau, a gifted orator, did as fine a job as anyone could have done - but he was not even in the competition.

The looming problem is how to move ahead. Each side now has some serious preconditions.

The Quartet, composed of the US, the UN, the EU and Russia, which has been deadlocked on this issue for a year, finally hammered out some suggestions to advance the face to face negotiations. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed hope that the parties would heed their suggestions.

But seriously - if the UN, EU, US and Russia could not come to agreement for a year and they are objective parties, how difficult do you think it will be for the Israelis and the Palestinians.

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