Was the UN Vote for Palestine a Faux Pas?

     November 29, 1947 marked the UN’s decision to partition Palestine into two states for Arabs AND Jews. The vote was a historic moment and was followed within a few months (May 14, 1948) by Israel’s declaration of independence, another historic moment. The original plan for partitioning was immediately accepted by the Jewish people AND immediately rejected by the Arabs. It gave birth to a series of wars and conflicts that continue to this very day.  This has been the core issue in what is known as the “Middle East Crisis” or the “Arab-Israeli Conflict”.

     Exactly 65 years to the day after the UN vote in 1947, on the 29th of November 2012, the UN voted again, but this time it was to welcome Palestine as a non-member (non-voting) state to the United Nations. The results were staggering as 138 countries voted in favor, 9 against and 41 abstained. Resolution 67/19 on “The Question of Palestine” was thus passed.

     This was without a doubt another historic moment, as the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas witnessed a complete vindication in what I must call the biggest inversion of reality in the history of the United Nations. If the move to include Palestine into the United Nation as a non-member state was connected to Abbas’ speech, it goes without saying that the UN unequivocally showed its true colors last Thursday.

     The speech delivered by Abbas was reminiscent of the days when the late Yasir Arafat would deliver one speech to the West and another to his Middle East audience. Arafat had turned speaking out of both side of his mouth into an art form. Abbas seems to have learned well from his predecessor.

     Statements like: “Our people will continue their popular peaceful resistance” or “…this defenseless people, armed only with their dreams, courage, hope and slogans in the face of bullets, tanks, tear gas and bulldozers” simply fly in the face of logic and common sense. There is nothing peaceful about the Palestinian conflict against Israel as these “defenseless” people are showering Israel with missiles on a daily basis and repeatedly using their own women and children as human shields. These human shields were turned into saints and martyrs in Mr. Abbas crafty delivery when he said:” the occupying Power continues to impose its blockade on the Gaza Strip and to target Palestinian civilians by assassinations, air strikes and artillery shelling, persisting with its war of aggression of three years ago on Gaza, which resulted in massive destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and mosques, and the thousands of martyrs and wounded.” Of course, if Mr. Abbas was referring to his human shield people as defenseless, he was right, but I really doubt it was the case.

     These are undeniable facts that were neither brought up by Mr. Abbas or challenged by the UN. I can only attribute it to the UN chronic case of cognitive dissonance, simply because I refuse to believe that it was really a case of corporate global antisemitism. Then again I might be giving the UN too much credit.

     Of course, nobody was interested in challenging the historical validity to the Palestinian claim. The fact that prior to 1967, Arabs never thought of calling themselves Palestinians was never mentioned. on the contrary, deep Palestinian roots and a need for hegemony in a land that does not belong to the Jews, was the only line presented to the global community present at the UN. And they bought it! was it diplomacy or dhimmitude?

     Mr. Abbas continued his historic speech by calling Israel “Palestine” as he claimed land for his people:“I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the birthplace of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people in the homeland and in the the Diaspora, to say, after 63 years of suffering of the ongoing Nakba: Enough. It is time for the Palestinian people to gain their freedom and independence.”

     As he claimed the continued Palestinian quest for democracy and human rights was hindered by Israel, he was able to garner the votes of several countries that have absolutely NO RIGHT to accuse Israel of crimes against humanity. Countries like North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Lybia and several others would have earned some of my respect if at the very least they had abstained (not that I think very highly of the 41 who did).

     As it stood, before the acceptance of Palestine into the UN, many more resolutions against Israel had been passed by the General Assembly since 1947 than all other countries together. So I am afraid to say that the UN didn’t really need Palestine to pass judgement on Israel. They were doing just fine on their own prior to the vote.

     Additionally, as they accuse Israel of hindering the peace process, Both Mr. Abbas and the UN body (except the 9 NOs) are clearly in breech of the Oslo Accords of 1993, where it was stipulated that peace (including recognition of a state of Palestine) can only be achieved through direct negotiations. Last time I checked, negotiations meant BOTH parties being involved and not simply one party unilaterally crying for help from the UN. When one party in the signing of a covenant breaks their word, the other party is immediately released from the boundaries and rules governing that covenant.

     It is safe to say that last Thursday the Palestinian Authority with the help of 179 countries at the UN, rendered the Oslo Accords “null and void”. But of course, if Israel was to act on this at ANY level, they would AGAIN be held solely responsible for breaking the Oslo Accords as the inversion of reality continues to pick up momentum.

     When I say 179 countries, I purposely include the 41 abstentions with the 138 in favor. The reason is simple and is similar to the perpetrators of crimes against the Jews during WWII. The perpetrators (the 138) were helped by the by-standers (the 41) who by not taking a position only facilitated the work of the other group. They are all guilty.

     Last Thursday was a moral faux pas, a diplomatic faux pas, a political faux pas but most importantly, a major biblical faux pas when in God’s eyes and definitely in mine, as they signed Palestine’s birth certificate, the UN simultaneously signed their own death warrant.