Palestinian Plan In September--Now Reduced To A Plan To Save Face?

Apparently, the Palestinian Arabs plan to go ahead with their request to the UN in September to recognize a second Palestinian state--even though Palestinians realize their request for recognition is likely to fail:

The Palestinians had hoped to count on growing international support for gaining statehood recognition at the U.N. outside of the framework of peace negotiations.

But a top U.N. official undercut that strategy last week when he said there was no way a Palestinian state could become a member of the U.N. without a recommendation from the Security Council. That is unlikely because Obama has hinted strongly that the U.S. would exercise its veto power on the council to block such a move.


On Saturday, a senior Palestinian official said Abbas has concluded that a statehood push at the U.N. would not advance the Palestinians' cause.

While the Palestinians are confident of obtaining support from their automatic majority in the General Assembly, the US veto stands in their way--the best they can expect is a non-binding affirmation of previous resolutions that the Palestinian Arabs have the right to a state.

So why go through with the request in September?

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas heads, intends to go ahead with its plan to approach the U.N., in order to save face among the Palestinian people, he said.

Now Abbas is concerned with saving face? His term in office ended over 2 years ago, his government is noted for its incompetence and corruption and Fayyad--one one who is respected and has accomplished something--will be pushed aside by Hamas in a unity government.

Let's face it: the best thing that could happen for the Palestinian Arabs is for this unity government to fall apart so that Fayyad can go ahead with building up the West Bank.

Here's a parting question: if in fact there is no chance of the UN recognizing a Palestinian state, what does that do to Fatah's or Hamas's motivation to stay with the "unity" government?

Hamas can no longer count on piggybacking on Fatah's quest for recognition--so what is in it for them, other than taking over the West Bank?

With no recognition, is it still in Fatah to remain joined at the hip with Hamas? Will Hamas be anything but a liability, seeking to usurp power from them once again?

Technorati Tag: Fatah and Gaza and Hamas and West Bank.