The Obama administration is working to derail the Palestinian effort within the United Nations to upgrade their diplomatic presence to a “non-member state.”
Reuters reports:
“Unilateral actions, including initiatives to grant Palestinians non-member state observer status at the United Nations, would only jeopardize the peace process and complicate efforts to return the parties to direct negotiations,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, told the U.N. Security Council during a debate on the Middle East situation.
There have been no direct Palestinian talks with Israel on peace since 2010, when the Palestinians refused to resume negotiations unless the Israeli government suspended settlement building in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“Any efforts to use international fora to prejudge final status issues that can only be resolved directly by the parties will neither improve the daily lives of Palestinians nor foster the trust essential to make progress towards a two state solution,” Rice said.
MJ Rosenberg summarizes:
In yet another bid for AIPAC campaign contributions, Obama tells Palestinians “no state, no UN, no how.” reuters.com/article/2012/1…
— Michael J Rosenberg (@MJayRosenberg) October 15, 2012
RE: “Unilateral actions, including initiatives to grant Palestinians non-member state observer status at the United Nations, would only jeopardize the peace process and complicate efforts to return the parties to direct negotiations . . .” ~ U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice
LOOSELY TRANSLATED: “I’m determined to be the next U.S. Secretary of State, and I’ll do whatever I have to do in order to keep AIPAC and the rest of the Likud Lobby from doing to me what they did to Charles Freeman when he was nominated by Obama to be Director of National Intelligence back in 2009!
Dickerson3870: Interesting idea.
Recall that USA’s diplomats (unlike cabinet officers) are the personal representatives of the President himself, not of the USA or the American people. (To remind yourself of this, consider N’yahu’s ambassadors and ask if they represent the Israeli people.)
Suppose Obama is re-elected and on November 7 instructs Susan Rice to tell the UNSC that its time for a resolution with teeth to require Israel to remove all settlers and demolish wall and settlements. On November 7 Rice is still UN Rep and Clinton is still SoS.
Clinton and Rice, each ambitious, immediately resign (without acting on his instruction) and Obama nominates replacements and Senate refuses to confirm. Where does the “most powerful man on earth” go from there?
Great headline Adam.
the israeli ambassador went gangbusters:
last i heard, they were planning on distributing psychedelics.
https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2012/10/rice-on-the-warpath-against-hezbollah-at-the-un.html
also, today ‘Abbas defends UN statehood bid in letter to Obama’
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=288058
Perhaps the peace process is like a Hezbollah drone over Mediterranean: not visible, but proceeding to its destination? [and to be shot down once visible? analogy goes back to the workshop]
Second attempt at levity: How many Israelis does it take to change a light bulb? [plug in a lame joke] How many eggs can you eat as the first thing in the morning? [one, the second is not the first] How many countries does it take to change the status of the Palestinian state unilaterally?