UN General Assembly Upgrades PLO Observer Status to "Non-member State"

Genocidal Sudan, whose ruler is wanted for crimes
against humanity by the International Criminal Court,
presented today's U.N. resolution on behalf of the
Arab group. Amb. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, Nov. 29. (UN Photo)
 Norway -- which boasted of its Yes vote today -- treated this as
normal, in tweets by its UN ambassador and mission.

UN Watch Briefing..
Vol. 395..
29 November '12..

Nov. 29 -- The U.N. General Assembly today voted 138 to 9, with 41 abstaining, to upgrade the PLO's observer status to the same level held by the Vatican, that of a "non-member state."

Although mostly symbolic, the statehood designation, as President Abbas boasted last year in a New York Times op-ed, paves the way for the "internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter," enabling the PLO to pursue claims against Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In tandem, the U.N. Human Rights Council is planning to relase a massive report in early 2013 -- by a commission of inquiry modeled after the one that produced the notorious Goldstone Report -- which is likely to recommend the ICC prosecution of Israeli officials for "war crimes" in connection with the settlements.

Though today's number of Yes votes may appear large, UN Watch noted that in fact it amounted to the usual automatic majority for any resolution attacking Israel -- and actually won 28 less votes than a pro-Palestinian resolution adopted last week, and than is usually received by such resolutions.

Moreover, as UN Watch also reported -- in a Tweet reposted by Canadian Cabinet Minister Rona Ambrose among many others -- the PLO won 38 less than the 176 votes the U.N. General Assembly gave to genocidal Sudan when recently electing it to a principal U.N. body that oversees human rights.

Also see: Balance? This Year’s Tally: 21 U.N. Resolutions on Israel, 4 on Rest of World Combined

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook.
.