Abbas spokesperson denies attempt to delay UN bid

Quoting Israeli media, Ma’an News Agency on Saturday reported that senior Palestinian officials had indicated willingness to postpone a bid to upgrade Palestine’s status at the United Nations. According to the report, Israel’s Ynet news site said Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas was considering delaying the bid until January to give his US counterpart Barack Obama time to formulate a new peace initiative. The Palestine leader’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina dismissed the report. “It’s for sure that the decision has been made and there is no going back. We will go to the UN to demand a state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said. Meanwhile a draft United Nations resolution asking the General Assembly to upgrade Palestine’s status in the world body has been distributed to 192 states but not Israel. Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) sources said  the draft is being discussed as the basis for the resolution which will seek to upgrade Palestine’s status to an “observer” state similar to the Vatican. A meeting of an Arab League committee, which is going to be held in Cairo will determine the date of voting regarding the draft resolution, the sources said. If approved, the resolution would “accord to Palestine Observer State status in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the representative of the Palestinian people.” The Palestinians are currently considered an observer “entity” at the United Nations. Acceptance of the Palestinians as a non-member state, similar to the Vatican’s UN status, would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood. The upgrade could also grant the Palestinians access to bodies like the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where they could file complaints against Israel. The status upgrade seems certain to win approval in any vote in the general assembly, which is composed mostly of post-colonial states historically sympathetic to the Palestinians. Palestinian diplomats also are courting European countries to further burnish their case.