One more thread was added to the tangled web of events that make up the Israel-Palestine Conflict. The UN, voting 138 to 9, upgraded Palestine’s status from “non-member observer entity” to “non-member observer state,” thus recognizing Palestinian statehood.
The State of Israel objected very loudly to what they see as a setback to completing the annexation they began decades ago; both the Israelis and Palestinians claim authority over certain Gaza Strip and West Bank territory.
The UN Security Council sees this annexation into Palestinian territory instead as an occupation, which violates the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, declaring that territory in this area acquired by war would not be recognized.
While Israel and Palestine fight for the Holy Land, the UN has been tirelessly attempting to reconcile the fighting in a tumultuous and wearied area of the world.
Proposals for a Palestinian state are curbed indefinitely by the State of Israel. The Six Day War of 1967 gave Israeli forces a decisive win over the United Arab Republic (Egypt), Jordan, and Syria. During this short war, Israel sought to regain land awarded to the Palestinians as a result of the 1922 restructuring by the League of Nations. Unfortunately, that’s just a narrowly focused and broadly expressed version of the whole truth; when asked, most people come up with the answer that the Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting for years over land they both believe to be sacred.
It seems hypocritical, almost pointless, to be shedding blood for something representing something transcendent to human perception, motivation, and faculty.
On the other hand, we cannot favor the religious aspect from the authority over land aspect. What right did the League of Nations have in 1922? This is contestable. What right does Israel have over this land? Again, there is an argument to be made on either side. What right do the Palestinians have over this land? Each question adds another thread to the tangled web. The United Nations, in this most recent declaration, has long sought to untangle what they can of this decades-long mess.
President Obama had just recently made official his support of Israel, a little over a week before the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 67/19 that gave a nod to the State of Palestine.
The United States, who has favored to acknowledge Israel over Palestine in the past, was being criticized during the increase in rocket attacks from pro-Palestinian groups (most recently this November, by the terrorist group Hamas) against Israeli civilian centers. Finally conceding to Israel’s complaints of feigned solidarity, the US decided to give an official promise of support, which was tested and then proven when the US voted against the vote to give Palestine recognition of statehood.
The United States sees the controlling Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, as terrorist organizations at the highest levels of government. Hamas and Fatah see themselves as revolutionaries, struggling against oppression, but there is even a conflict between the two groups.
The fact that the Palestinians themselves are split between Hamas and Fatah cannot be beneficial to the struggle against Israel.
The recognition of Palestinian statehood, recognizes the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of the Palestinian people. The PLO is criticized for leaving much of Hamas out of their decision making, with Fatah as their largest representation.
The recent rocket attacks, following the Israeli assassination of Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari, might have been seen by the UN as a fight between Hamas and Israel, excluding Fatah and the PLO.
This new recognition of Palestine, placing them on the same rank as the Holy See in the eyes of the United Nations, has been deemed wholly symbolic.
This does not indefinitely give Palestine any new territorial boundaries and certainly does not announce any international military presence or to promote Palestine’s struggle.
Through this new development, Israel has found new ways to protest against their bitter enemies. The best solution, at this point, is to deny both sides their territory, because neither will make any negotiations regarding it.
The loss of life and the lack of clear legitimacy on either side has gone on for so long and is so wide-spread that international conference cannot act without injuring some party of people, be it Hamas, Fatah, the Palestinians, the Israelis, or another group.
How, then, is the United Nations supposed to facilitate change? It cannot, as it will not, fix anything soon. We will see a lot more destruction before anything comes to an end.