UN to take up Palestinian state question in November

The question of statehood for the Palestinians is expected to come up for debate in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in about six weeks, the president of the UNGA, Vuk Jeremic, said here Wednesday. While there still is no firm date, he told reporters at a press conference here, "I think that come in the middle of November there is going to be an international debate on the Palestine issue in the General Assembly," adding that was his understanding after discussions with foreign officials during the just-concluded, week-long, high-level annual GA General Debate. It has been speculated that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was holding off on his announced intention to seek non-member state status until after the November 6 U.S. presidential election. "It's going to give much more clarity to issues related to the Middle East," said Jeremic. "On the issue of Palestine, is it going to be an observer state or not and from my discussions with Middle East leaders of the past week I think this is going to take place sometime in November, " he said. "They talked about November," he said. "There are electoral and political calendars in many parts of the world. My understanding is the Palestinian leadership is going to try and engage in extensive discussions and consultations on this matter coming to a conclusion as to what they want to do sometime in November." "So, I am blocking out November," the president said. "I am not going to go for vacation in November. That is my understanding of the discussions that I have had over the past week." In Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian bid for UN recognition as a non-member state will be presented and voted on in October or November, reports said. Abbas said that the UN General Assembly will conduct the vote on the Palestinian bid "in either this month or the next month." Last year, Abbas sought full membership in the United Nations for the Palestinian people but the effort, approved by the 193- member GA, failed because of a U.S. veto in the UN Security Council. The Palestinians decided to go for the UN vote to gain a non- member state in the General Assembly after the peace process in the Middle East remained stalled since October 2010 due to disputes on the issue of Israeli settlements. Both Israel and the United States oppose the Palestinian bid and demand the Palestinians to resolve the conflict with Israel through direct peace negotiations. Palestine won membership last year in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), despite strong opposition from the United States and Israel.