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Vol. 76/No. 46      December 17, 2012

 
UN votes ‘observer state’
status to occupied territories
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
The U.N. General Assembly Nov. 29 changed the status of Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories from nonmember “observer” to “observer state,” making representatives of the Palestinian Authority eligible to participate in U.N. bodies. The vote took place days after the end of the eight-day Israeli attack on Gaza in response to provocative rocket launchings by Hamas into civilian areas of Israel.

The U.N. resolution, which was presented by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, was adopted by a 138-9 vote with 41 abstentions. The governments of the U.S., Israel, Canada, Panama and the Czech Republic were among those voting no. At least 17 governments in Europe voted in favor, including from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The United Kingdom and Germany abstained.

The resolution does nothing to alter the conditions Palestinian workers and farmers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip confront under Tel Aviv’s tight control over trade, borders and the economies there.

In Gaza and the West Bank, the two noncontiguous areas of the Palestinian “state,” Palestinian trade and travel with other countries depends on Israeli ports and Israeli-controlled border crossings. A naval blockade remains in effect on Gaza and Israeli military checkpoints are located throughout the West Bank.

Hamas, the bourgeois ruling party of Gaza and rival of Abbas’ Fatah, came out in favor of the U.N. statehood bid prior to the vote, a reversal of its previous position.

The positions of Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank are consistent with their goals to strengthen control over their respective domains as they press, each in their own way, to seek accommodation with Tel Aviv on more favorable terms than the Israeli rulers have in mind.

The Israeli government’s response made clear the capitalist rulers there also want a “two-state” future in the region, but on their own terms.

The day after the U.N. vote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to construct 3,000 new housing units for settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. He also approved “planning work” for a new Israeli settlement that could virtually divide the West Bank in two, but no actual construction.

On Dec. 2 Tel Aviv said it’s withholding more than $100 million in funds it transfers to the Palestinian Authority each month. The money comes from taxes and customs duties Israel collects for goods entering the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian Authority is dependent upon these funds to pay wages of tens of thousands of public workers and the cops. Israeli military officials expressed opposition to the freeze, saying the money is essential to maintain stability and security in the West Bank, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Among issues affecting “stability” are growing opposition to rising fuel and commodity prices and the decision by the Palestinian Authority in October to set the minimum wage at one-third of the amount paid in Israel.  
 
 
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