The world's obligation to end the occupation
http://972mag.com/the-worlds-obligation-to-end-the-occupation/100857/
Right-wing propagandists have been quick to take credit for the outcome of the UN Security Council vote on Tuesday, which rejected the Palestinians’ resolution to unilaterally end the occupation, rather than through negotiations. The resolution won the support of eight out of 15 members of the Security Council — just shy of passing.
However, a closer look at the votes shows that there were neither winners nor losers in New York. The Palestinians won the support of the majority of Security Council members, while a minority of states opposed the resolution (eight yes votes and two no votes); a total of 13 states supported the resolution or abstained, while only two, the U.S. and Australia, opposed. Out of the five permanent members of the UNSC, three supported the resolution (Russia, China and France) while one abstained (Britain). The Palestinian failure, therefore, stems not from the fact that the majority of countries, including the United States, wish to see an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but rather from the Security Council’s procedures themselves (which require a majority of nine states to pass resolutions).
It seems that the Security Council may return and discuss the French resolution on the same issue, although it is likely to be rejected due to American sensitivities over meddling in internal Israeli affairs before the elections. But in reality U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has already brought down the Netanyahu government. Washington’s pressure to thaw the peace process led to renewed talks in July 2013. The death knell, however, sounded in April 2014. The failure led to a steep rise in Palestinian anger toward of the status quo.
Abbas, who understood that violence would only give Israel a golden opportunity to forever tarnish his presidency, put forward two parallel initiatives. On the one hand, he promoted national reconciliation and established a technocratic unity government. On the other hand, he pushed a diplomatic initiative at the UN Security Council, whose goal was to place the occupied territories under independent Palestinian sovereignty by 2017.
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