US BARS PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD MOVES IN UN AGENCIES

Away from the headlines, Palestinians have been trying to advance their statehood agenda in small but symbolic ways in United Nations agencies that fall off the radar for most people. But even on the outer reaches of the sprawling UN system,

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August 17, 2022

Away from the headlines, Palestinians have been trying to advance their statehood agenda in small but symbolic ways in United Nations agencies that fall off the radar for most people. But even on the outer reaches of the sprawling UN system, their efforts have been blocked by a United States resolve not to display the slightest tilt toward Palestinians as it tries to act as honest broker in their halting peace talks with Israel. Many Israelis suspect President Barack Obama is bent on establishing a Palestinian state at any cost. But in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinians’ limited self-rule in the West Bank, they think he’s not as serious about it as he sounds. “We could have gone to voting and got what we wanted,” said Sulaiman Zuhairi, a member of the Palestinian delegation last month at a meeting in Mexico of the International Telecommunications Union. He tabled a motion that would have secured them the rights of a member state, and after months of diplomatic preparation, it was endorsed by around 50 countries and was on track to pass with the backing of an additional 40 states. “We asked for the rights and privileges of a state but without being a member state. Let them call us whatever they want, but I wanted all the rights of a member state,” he said.