As Bayefsky noted, "There is not too much left to the imagination here: Israel is 'wiped off the map.' ... As the Palestinians seek statehood status from the United Nations, they claim to be interested in peace. But the logo reveals a more sinister goal: Palestinian unilateral statehood efforts go hand-in-hand with a desire by the rulers of such a state to champion the continued rejection of the Jewish state, Israel. That’s what the U.N. – with its automatic majority of Muslim countries and their undemocratic allies – is being asked to endorse."
President Obama tried to reassure more than 900 rabbis today on a half-hour conference call that he’s a stalwart friend of Israel. In the midst of all the happy talk, though, he inadvertently revealed how he really thinks about the Middle East:
Regional reactions to Obama’s U.N. speech yesterday are starting to come in, including some very ugly responses. Here, for instance is a column from Adel Abd al-Rahman, a Palestinian journalist from al-Hayat al-Jadida, an official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, that makes much of the president’s race.
New York, New York—"Until we have a resolution to see, Daniel, the United Kingdom is not answering that question and you will not evoke another answer, I know, from another authoritative source from the United Kingdom delegation,” Alistair Burt, a member of Parliament and a member of the UK delegation to the U.N., tells me in response to a question about whether his nation will support the Palestinian bid for statehood this week.
As Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s prepares to speak at the United Nations, it is tempting to dismiss his anti-American rants as just another propaganda stunt. But what makes his remarks difficult to ignore is that large segments of the Iranian population will buy into them. And that Ahmadinejad, along with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini and Iran’s clerical leadership, appear to believe what they are saying – fueling a narrative that drives Iran’s reckless international behavior.
The logo of “the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations” – on their website and on top of their official statements at the U.N. – shows the Palestinian Authority’s claim to a Palestine that stretches throughout the entire historical entity of the former Palestine mandate.
President Obama’s speech to the United Nations, which he delivered this morning in New York, is filled with lots of little surprises. (For instance, “the United Nations helped avert a third World War.” Really?)
The Iranian minister of foreign affairs, Ali Akbar Salehi, is now scheduled to take part in the conference known as Durban III, according to a well-placed source close to the United Nations.
New York, New York—This week, the Palestinians have come to the United Nations, where they hope to gather enough support from the Security Council—or at least the General Assembly—to be recognized as Palestine, a true and independent nation, by the world community. The Palestinians will make the case that they are seeking to determine their future through democratic means. They will use democratic rhetoric, though they are not a democracy. And they will cast their opponents as booster of the supposed Israel occupation, though they have been responsible for years of terror upon the Israeli citizens.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has just released a statement on the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations, blasting President Obama's policies toward Israel for the situation. “What we are watching unfold at the United Nations is an unmitigated diplomatic disaster," Romney said in a statement. "It is the culmination of President Obama’s repeated efforts over three years to throw Israel under the bus and undermine its negotiating position. That policy must stop now."
Speaker of the House John Boehner reiterated his commitment to Israel yesterday, in a speech given at the Jewish National Fund’s 2011 National Conference in Cincinnati. Boehner's speech is particularly timely, considering that the Palestinians will seek statehood at United Nations later this week. Here's the text (save the lengthy introduction):
“Like you, I have read suggestions by newspaper columnists and observers that events have overtaken Israel … that Israel is ‘isolating itself’ in the Middle East.
The debate intensifies around Obama's treatment of Israel. Today, the Emergency Committee for Israel goes behind enemy lines, running a full page advertisement in the New York Times that explains to President Obama what he should do if he wants to stand with Israel this week at the United Nations.
The U.N. has quietly released the list of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that will be allowed to attend its “anti-racism” conference on September 22, 2011 in New York.
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