Arab Spring Turns to Fall in UN
Montrealers Weigh in on the Bid for a Palestinian State
According to Mostafa Henaway, a member of Montreal-based Palestinian rights group Tadamon—which means ‘solidarity’ in Arabic—his group won’t take an official stance on the bid for that reason.
“It’s a fact that Palestinians here [in Canada] who are refugees will no longer have any representation, because the Palestinian Liberation Organization right now has an observer seat at the UN [rather than the Palestinian Authority],” he said.
The PA is the ruling administrative body of the Palestinian territories, while the PLO is the body that represents the Palestinian people.
The difference here is that while the PA’s powers are limited by geographical borders, the PLO, which has had observer status at the UN since 1974, is able to represent all Palestinians around the world.
“The PLO itself […] represents people here, and what will happen is that the Palestinian Authority will become the representative body, so the Palestinians here, who cannot return to their homes, will no longer have any representation or any decision-making over their ability to return,” said Henaway.
It’s an opinion that is shared not just by those outside of the territories, but by some who reside there as well.
That’s part of the reason why Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip, and which Canada recognizes as a terrorist organization, neither condones nor condemns the bid for statehood, according to Julie Norman, a political science professor at Concordia who has written two books on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“I would say there’s a lot of support for this in Palestine, but there’s some who don’t, for a variety of reasons,” she said. “One is that by putting the label of a state on Palestine, it starts demarcating borders that aren’t clear for everyone in the region, Palestinians as well as Israelis.
“In particular for refugees and a lot of people in Gaza and in the refugee diaspora, the idea of a Palestinian state defined by borders, there’s a worry it would exclude people in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt who are not within those borders.”
The president of the UN Security Council announced on Sept. 26 that it would discuss the bid on Sept. 28. Though there are 15 countries on the Council, and just nine votes are required for a vote to pass, the five permanent states each can veto, which the United States has vowed to do in this case.
When that happens, the issue will go to the General Assembly, where all member countries have a vote. There, they could vote to change the Palestinians from observer status to elevated status, which would open the door for them to join organizations such as the International Criminal Court.
Norman said the Palestinians have anticipated this, and that the purpose is not to obtain statehood, but to put themselves in a better position to negotiate with Israel.
“The General Assembly resolution wouldn’t have a lot of direct effects in terms of real changes, but what it does do is it gives Palestinians more leverage in negotiations. It’s a very visible show of world sentiment and international support for a state.
“We’ve seen in the past grassroots movements, but not so much state government showing support. It would show, at a very clear scale, that there is an international will at a state level to see a state.”
Though Norman explained that the effects of the vote on Canada would be minimal, as it is well known that Canada plans to back the U.S., the bid has already seen repercussions locally. The group Palestinians and Jews United held a solidarity protest on Sept. 23 in front of Montreal’s Israeli consulate.
Concordia Hillel President Evara David said that her group has nothing planned, but added, “We are aware, however, that this is inevitably going to be a topic that will be discussed on campus, but in terms of discussing measures, […] we haven’t done that yet.”
Concordia’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights could not be reached for comment.
