Phl backs Palestine’s quest for self-rule

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines voted yesterday to grant Palestine “non-member observer state” status at the United Nations, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

“The Philippines supports Palestine’s quest for self-rule and self-determination and we hope that one day an independent Palestine may live side by side in peace with its neighbors.” DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said

“In line with this desire and our support for the two-state solution, the Philippines voted in favor of the resolution granting Palestine non-member observer state status,” he added.

Israel supports the Palestinian state but this must be reached through “direct negotiation which both sides agreed to and signed 20 years ago that all our core issues and everything will be resolved through direct negotiation,” Israeli Ambassador Menashe Bar-On told The STAR in an interview at the launching of the Intramuros and Manila Minishuttle Tour yesterday.

Bar-On said the approval of the resolution is counter-productive as this is seen not to change the status on the ground and will make the peace process more difficult and in danger.

“Because how can we trust the Palestinians if they are going to sign an agreement about daily issues if we can’t trust that they will comply with their promises,” he said.

“We are sorry to hear that the Palestinian Authority or President Abbas did not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. We hope that the wisdom can prevail... Once we have wisdom to do things I think we can reach the goal of peace and we will have two states living side by side – one for the Jewish people and the other for the Palestinian. We hope this resolution will not set back the peace process,” Bar-On said.

The UN General Assembly voted to grant Palestine non-member observer state status, while expressing the urgent need for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians leading to a permanent two-state solution.

The resolution on the status of Palestine in the UN was adopted by a vote of 138 in favor to nine against with 41 abstentions by the 193-member Assembly.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue “birth certificate.”

Abbas noted the world was being asked today to undertake a significant step in the process of rectifying the “unprecedented historical injustice” inflicted on the Palestinian people since 1948.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said his delegation could not accept the resolution. “Because this resolution is so one-sided, it doesn’t advance peace, it pushes it backwards,” he stated.

Prosor said peace could only be achieved through negotiations.

“There’s only one route to Palestinian statehood and that route does not run through this chamber in New York. That route runs through direct negotiations between Jerusalem and Ramallah that will lead to a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he added. “There are no shortcuts. No quick fixes. No instant solutions.”

The Israelis and Palestinians have yet to resume direct negotiations since talks stalled in September 2010, after Israel refused to extend its freeze on settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In the resolution, the General Assembly also voiced the hope that the Security Council will “consider favorably” the application submitted in September 2011 by Palestine for full UN membership.

The Palestinian bid for full UN membership stalled last year when the 15-nation Council, which decides to recommend admission by the Assembly, said it had been “unable to make a unanimous recommendation.”

The action came on the same day that the UN observed the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Established in 1977, the Day marks the date in 1947 when the Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning then-mandated Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.