Post date: Sep 23, 2011 4:55:15 PM
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requests full membership to the United Nations by handing over a formal letter to U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon .
UNITED NATIONS (SEPTEMBER 23, 2011) UNTV - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the United Nations on Friday (September 23) to recognize a state for his people, even though Israel still occupies its territory and the United States has vowed to veto the move.
Just before his speech addressing the 66th U.N. General Assembly, Abbas handed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a letter requesting full U.N. membership, which the Security Council must consider -- although this may take some time.
His appeal to the council reflects a loss of faith after 20 years of failed peace talks sponsored by the United States, Israel's main ally, and alarm at relentless Israeli settlement expansion eating into the land Palestinians want for a state.
It also exposes Washington's dwindling influence in a region shaken by Arab uprisings and shifting alliances that have pushed Israel, for all its military muscle, deeper into isolation.
Abbas will set out his case in a speech to the General Assembly, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also take the podium to argue that only direct negotiations between the two sides can lead to a Palestinian state.
Abbas is resorting to the United Nations even though Israeli and U.S. politicians have threatened financial reprisals that could cripple his Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank.
The Security Council could delay action on Abbas' request, giving the mediating "Quartet" -- the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- more time to craft a declaration that could coax the two sides back to the table.