Palestinian Statehood: The Ayes And The Nays

Debbie Menon for Salem-News.com

Israel’s apartheid is strikingly similar to what was seen in South Africa, Pilger’s documentary goes to the heart of the matter.

Special thanks to Veterans Today

(MELBOURNE) – John Pilger, renowned investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, is one of only two journalists to have twice won British journalism’s top award; his documentaries have won academy awards in both the UK and the US.

In a New Statesman survey of the 50 heroes of our time, Pilger came fourth behind Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela.

John Pilger details the war in Palestine through interviews of Palestinian and Israelis.

It details the progress of peace and the strategies and policies at work on both sides of the issue.

Watch the program by John Pilger (continues below)

Countries that support the recognition of a Palestinian state:

A partial listing of the Ayes, as of July 2011…

# Name Date of recognition

1. Algeria 15 November 1988
2. Bahrain 15 November 1988
3. Iraq 15 November 1988
4. Kuwait 15 November 1988
5. Libya 15 November 1988
6. Malaysia 15 November 1988
7. Mauritania15 November 1988
8. Morocco 15 November 1988
9. Somalia 15 November 1988
10. Tunisia 15 November 1988
11. Turkey 15 November 1988
12. Yemen 15 November 1988
13. Afghanistan 16 November 1988
14. Bangladesh 16 November 1988
15. Cuba 16 November 1988
16. Indonesia 16 November 1988
17. Jordan 16 November 1988
18. Madagascar 16 November 1988
19. Malta 16 November 1988
20. Nicaragua 16 November 1988
21. Pakistan 16 November 1988
22. Qatar 16 November 1988
23. Saudi Arabia 16 November 1988
24. United Arab Emirates 16 November 1988
25. Serbia 16 November 1988
26. Zambia 16 November 1988
27. Albania 17 November 1988
28. Brunei 17 November 1988
29. Djibouti 17 November 1988
30. Mauritius 17 November 1988
31. Sudan 17 November 1988
32. Cyprus 18 November 1988
33. Czech Republic 18 November 1988
34. Slovakia 18 November 1988
35. Egypt 18 November 1988
36. India 18 November 1988
37. Nigeria 18 November 1988
38. Seychelles 18 November 1988
39. Sri Lanka 18 November 1988
40. Belarus 19 November 1988
41. Guinea 19 November 1988
42. Namibia 19 November 1988
43. Ukraine 19 November 1988
44. Russia 19 November 1988
45. Vietnam 19 November 1988
46. China, People’s Republic of 20 November 1988
47. Burkina Faso 21 November 1988
48. Comoros 21 November 1988
49. Guinea-Bissau 21 November 1988
50. Mali 21 November 1988
51. Cambodia 21 November 1988
52. Mongolia 22 November 1988
53. Senegal 22 November 1988
54. Hungary 23 November 1988
55. Cape Verde 24 November 1988
56. Korea, North 24 November 1988
57. Niger 24 November 1988
58. Romania 24 November 1988
59. Tanzania 24 November 1988
60. Bulgaria 25 November 1988
61. Maldives 28 November 1988
62. Ghana 29 November 1988
63. Togo 29 November 1988
64. Zimbabwe 29 November 1988
65. Chad 1 December 1988
66. Laos 2 December 1988
67. Sierra Leone 3 December 1988
68. Uganda 3 December 1988
69. Congo, Republic of the 5 December 1988
70. Angola 6 December 1988
71. Mozambique 8 December 1988
72. São Tomé and Príncipe 10 December 1988
73. Congo, Democratic Republic of the 10 December 1988
74. Gabon 12 December 1988
75. Oman 13 December 1988
76. Poland 14 December 1988
77. Botswana19 December 1988
78. Nepal 19 December 1988
79. Burundi 22 December 1988
80. Central African Republic 23 December 1988
81. Bhutan 25 December 1988
82. Rwanda 2 January 1989
83. Ethiopia 4 February 1989
84. Iran 4 February 1989
85. Benin May 1989 or before
86. Equatorial Guinea May 1989 or before
87. Gambia May 1989 or before
88. Kenya May 1989 or before
89. Lebanon May 1989 or before
90. Vanuatu 21 August 1989
91. Philippines September 1989
92. Swaziland July 1991 or before
93. Kazakhstan 6 April 1992
94. Azerbaijan 15 April 1992
95. Georgia 25 April 1992
96. Bosnia and Herzegovina 27 May 1992
97. Tajikistan 2 April 1994
98. Uzbekistan 25 September 1994
99. South Africa 15 February 1995
100. Kyrgyzstan November 1995
101. East Timor 1 March 2004
102. Papua New Guinea 4 October 2004
103. Paraguay 25 March 2005
104. Montenegro 24 July 2006
105. Costa Rica 5 February 2008
106. Côte d’Ivoire 2008 or before
107. Venezuela 27 April 2009
108. Dominican Republic 14 July 2009
109. Brazil 1 December 2010
110. Argentina 6 December 2010
111. Bolivia 22 December 2010
112. Ecuador 24 December 2010
113. Chile 7 January 2011
114. Guyana 13 January 2011
115. Peru 24 January 2011
116. Suriname 1 February 2011
117. Uruguay 15 March 2011
118. Malawi 19 April 2011
119. Lesotho 6 June 2011
120. Syria 18 July 2011
121. Liberia 2011
122. Turkmenistan 2011 or before

List taken FROM

Be a part of Peace and Progress!!

HELP FILL IN THE MAP!

If your country is not on the list, urge your government to join in…. USA, Canada, Australia and Columbia in particular.

No one will be disenfranchised — Prof. Francis Boyle

Oxford University Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill prepared a legal opinion, claiming granting Palestine Statehood will result in the PLO losing its status. In addition, he said, diaspora refugees will be disenfranchised.

University of Illinois Law Professor Francis Boyle, former PLO legal advisor in drafting its 1988 Declaration of Independence discounted Goodwin-Gill’s concerns, saying he built explicit safeguards into the 1988 Declaration of Independence he drafted “to make sure that his doomsday scenario does not materialize.”

My Dear Palestinian Friends:

University of Illinois Law Professor Francis A. Boyle

This Memo is based upon most erroneous assumptions. But in a nutshell, in the 15 November 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence that was approved by the PNC representing all Palestinians all over the world, the Executive Committee of the PLO was set up as the Provisional Government for the State of Palestine—pursuant to my advice.

In addition, the Declaration of Independence also provides that all Palestinians living around the world automatically become citizens of the State of Palestine—pursuant to my advice. So the Executive Committee of the PLO in its capacity as the Provisional Government for the State of Palestine will continue to represent the interests of all Palestinians around the world when Palestine becomes a UN Member State. Hence all your rights will be preserved: for all Palestinians and for the PLO. No one will be disenfranchised.

The PLO will not lose its status. This legal arrangement does not violate the Palestinian Charter, but was approved already by the PNC. Unfortunately, this professor is not aware of all the legal and constitutional technicalities that were originally built into the Palestinian Declaration of Independence to make sure that his doomsday scenario does not materialize–at my advice.

All of your rights have been protected and will be protected by Palestine becoming a Member State of the United Nations, including the Right of Return. Indeed, in the Memo I originally did for President Arafat and the PLO back in 1988, I explained how we could obtain UN Membership.

All of the advice that I gave to President Arafat and the PLO in 1987 to 1989 was originally premised on the assumption that someday we would apply for UN Membership. That day has come. Please move forward. I have been working for this Day since I first proposed UN Membership for Palestine along the lines of Namibia at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in June of 1987. Palestine’s Application for UN Membership was my idea.

When my Client and Dear Friend the late, great Dr. Haidar Abdul Shaffi Chair of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Negotiations instructed me to draft the Palestinian counter-offer to the now defunct Oslo Agreement, he most solemnly told me:

“Professor Boyle, we have decided to ask you to draft this Interim Peace Agreement for us. Do whatever you want! But do not sell out our right to our State!”

And I responded to Dr. Haidar:

“Do not worry, Dr. Abdul Shaffi. As you know, I was the one who first called for the creation of the Palestinian State back at United Nations Headquarters in June of 1987, and then served as the Legal Adviser to the PLO on its creation. I will do nothing to harm it!”

As I promised Dr. Haidar, I would do nothing to harm Palestine and the Palestinians.

In addition, the Palestinians are acting in good faith and with sincerity. They are part of our Diaspora. But they have been critically misled and misinformed by that Opinion by the Brit Lawyer from the Brit University. The Brits created this problem in the first place. Why would any Palestinian listen to a Brit lawyer from a Brit University?.

They do not even understand that once we become a UN Member State, we can ratify the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court and then file a formal State to State Complaint against Israeli Officials, upgrading the lower level Complaint President Abbas filed at my advice. They also do not know that once we become a UN Member State, we can ratify the Genocide Convention and sue Israel for Genocide at the World Court, pursuant to the advice I had already given President Arafat and President Abbas, and get a temporary restraining Order against the Zionists, that would then go to the Security Council for enforcement and if vetoed by the Americans, to the General Assembly for enforcement under the Uniting for Peace Resolution . With these proceedings we might be able to halt the Zionist settlement project of all Palestine in the immediate future. How else are we going to do this?

Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law Legal Advisor to the PLO and H.E. Yasser Arafat on the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle Peace Negotiations (1991-1993) and H.E. Dr. Haidar Abdul Shaffi Author, Palestine, Palestinians and International Law (2003) and The Palestinian Right of Return under International Law (2011)

IN CONCLUSION:

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh

The internet is abuzz about the September bid at the UN for an upgrade in the status of Palestine.  There are many arguments on all sides being presented.  Even international legal experts differ, Guy Goodwin-Gill holds a very negative opinion about going to the UN while Francis Boyle a very positive one (Abdullah Abu Eid, a Palestinian legal expert holds a somewhat intermediary position).  Some points are convincing to some of us and some not.  The discussions are getting intense but in actuality are coming a bit too late. It is not clear that the opinions offered will affect the course going forward since no mechanism exists for Mr. Mahmoud Abbas to seek and receive input in a democratic and open way.  What would have helped would be an open democratic decision making process at the PLO.  The Palestinian National Council should have been revived democratically as agreed to three times already in discussions between the factions.  If the PNC had been constituted, a real discussion among Palestinians would have happened that address these existential issues like whether to go to the UN or not and more importantly how to move before and after such events to ensure success regardless of the decision we collectively make.  No real discussion of these issues was possible or allowed in the structure of Oslo.  It is that lack of rational and democratic decision making since Oslo (intentional) that really harms the cause of Palestine.

Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh teaches and does research at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities in occupied Palestine. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke and Yale Universities. He served on the board/steering/executive committees of a number of groups including Peace Action Education Fund, the US Campaign to End the Occupation, the Palestinian American Congress, Association for One Democratic State in Israel/Palestine, and BoycottIsraeliGoods.org. He is now president of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People. He advised many other groups including Sommerville Divestment Project, Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project, Palestine Freedom Project, Sabeel North America, and National Council of Churches of Christ USA. He is an active member of a number of human rights groups (Amnesty, Peace action, Human Rights Watch, ACLU etc.). He published several books of which the most acclaimed “Sharing the Land of Canaan: human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle” which was also translated to spanish. For more about his work go to: http://qumsiyeh.org

Also see:

• General Assembly Palestinian Statehood Vote

• Follow-Up Comments on Palestinian Statehood Vote

Sources: Desert Peace / Veterans Today

Debbie Menon is an independent writer based in Dubai. An advocate for Justice and Peace for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Her main focus is US-Middle East Policy issues while writing cutting edge commentary for today’s growing number of Internet news viewers seeking unfiltered information about real events. She is committed to exposing Israel Lobbies control of U.S. Middle East Policy. Her Website, mycatbirdseat.com, is a source for many other Salem-News.com reports.

Debbie has a fresh perspective in her interpretation of historical events and their relationship to today’s current news developments between Palestine and Israel. She can be reached at: debbiemenon@gmail.com

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