Palestine short ‘just one vote for UN bid’

THE Palestinians have secured eight Security Council “yes” votes for their UN membership bid, just one short of the nine they need, the Palestinian foreign minister said.

Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, Riyad al-Malki said he had received assurances from two additional nations — Nigeria and Gabon — that they would vote in favour of the Palestinian bid for full state membership at the UN.

“We have eight states that will vote for Palestine in the Security Council,” he said. “We are working hard to have a ninth and a tenth.”

Malki said the Palestinians have assurances of “yes” votes from Lebanon, Russia, China, India, South Africa and Brazil, in addition to the new confirmations from Nigeria and Gabon.

“We are working on Bosnia, Colombia and Portugal,” he added, saying he was scheduled to visit Bosnia shortly, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will make stops in Colombia, Portugal, Honduras and the Dominican Republic in October.

Abbas will also deliver an address in Strasbourg on October 6, he said.

The Palestinians need to secure at least nine Security Council votes in favour of their membership bid for it to be approved and advanced to the General Assembly.

Even with the requisite nine votes, the United States has pledged to use its veto to block the request, but the Palestinians hope they can at least claim a diplomatic victory by securing a majority in the Security Council.

Abbas submitted the bid shortly before he delivered a historic address to the General Assembly, urging their support for the request.

After closed-door debate on Monday, the Security Council on Wednesday referred the request to a committee to meet today.

The bid has attracted criticism from Washington and divided the membership of the European Union, raising the prospect that the Security Council might seek to delay a vote altogether to avoid embarrassing its members.

But Malki said the Palestinians would not accept any delay “for political reasons.”

US and EU representatives sought to head off the bid before it was submitted to the United Nations, trying to put together a proposal for new peace talks that would convince the Palestinians to drop their request.

Meanwhile, international pressure was mounting on Israel yesterday over its plans to add another 1,100 homes to the east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhood of Gilo. The Palestinian leadership has said the move rebuffs a proposal from the Middle East Quartet for fresh peace talks, though senior Israeli politicians have given the Quartet’s plan a cautious welcome.

Former friend turned bitter critic Turkey said the construction plan underlined the need for the world to back the Palestinian bid for full UN membership.

“Israel’s decision raises serious doubts about its sincerity and its true intentions,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“It constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and is unacceptable.”

Relations between Israel and Turkey have steadily deteriorated since May 2010, when an Israeli assault on an aid flotilla bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip left nine Turkish nationals dead.

On Wednesday, after the European Union and the United States condemned the Gilo project, China, Egypt, Russia and other major powers voiced their opposition.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr also denounced the plans in a statement issued from Washington. “Such an Israeli step reflects the country’s intention to continue with its provocative policy and defiance of the international consensus regarding the illegitimacy of settlement activities.”

Britain, France and Italy also condemned the move, but Israel dismissed their objections.

“Gilo is not a settlement, nor is it an outpost,” Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Gilo is a neighbourhood in the very heart of Jerusalem some five minutes from the centre of the city.”