Seeking help at the UN

With all efforts to put an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories failing, the Arab world turns to the UN to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo recently agreed to submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council through Jordan, calling for the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital within  a clear time frame, which should be November 2016.

Any such resolution can be expected to be vetoed by Israel’s staunchest ally, the US, but that should not deter the Arabs from tabling it.

The occupation has lasted for far too long. In this day and age, it is an even bigger stain on humanity, and voting for a resolution in favour of a Palestinian state can be the only thing of conscience any self-respecting nation can do.

France, Britain and Germany are said to be drafting their own resolution, which is to set out parameters for trying to end the  conflict. Hopefully it will be something concrete and compelling, not just ink on paper.

The Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world are trying, in the 11th hour, to ask for a UN Security Council intervention to solve the Palestinian problem.

They have been powerless in the face of continued Israeli provocations and defiance for far too long.

Still, for the longest time, they also sought to negotiate with Israel, hoping to shake the intransigence of this belligerent state bent on grabbing its neighbours’ land to satisfy its dreams of aggrandisement.

The Arabs came to finally realise that sitting at the negotiating table with Israel only gives it more time to carry out its designs.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told the Arab foreign ministers in Cairo that “there is no longer a partner for us in Israel and there is nothing for us but to internationalise the issue”.

Hopefully concrete actions will follow.

Jordan, the closest to Palestine because of “geographical factors, blood bonds, and a shared history and destiny”, as Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said, has been working relentlessly to help the Palestinians.

It is time influential worlds powers helped as well, at least by creating a suitable environment for the resumption of direct negotiations to achieve the two-state solution.