Speaking to a group of George Mason University students Wednesday about the recent United Nations vote to recognize a Palestinian state, the Palestinian ambassador to the United States said he has told pro-Israel lawmakers in Congress to “deal with this new fact,” and went on to call Iran a “peace loving” nation.
The ambassador, Maen Areikat, said in his speech that since the U.N. vote last week he has met with several Capitol Hill lawmakers and told them no action they take – whether they shut down his office, force him out of the country, or threaten to cut off aid – will halt what’s been started by the historic vote.
The ambassador’s statements were in reference to recent threats from U.S. lawmakers to cut off aid to Palestine, prompted after a skirmish between Hamas and Israel after the U.N. vote.
Areikat went on to say the proposed two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace.
“Two states or more conflict,” he said. “Israel is not as safe as it was five, ten years ago.”
Areikat’s speech, given at George Mason University’s Arlington campus, was hosted by the school’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy & Conflict Resolution. It had been on the books for several weeks prior to the U.N. vote.
The vote was largely symbolic, and does not create borders, but simply acknowledges the PLO government and means the U.N. General Assembly recognizes Palestine as a nonmember observer state. The responsibility of forming a government still rests with the Palestinian people.
The nonmember observer status is seen as a step on the road to becoming a nation and full member of the United Nations, however. The only other nonmember observer is the Vatican. Switzerland, Spain, Kuwait, to name a few, were all nonmember observers before becoming fully recognized members.
The recent U.N. vote to recognize the state of Palestine allows the new country to bring charges against Israel for war crimes in the International Criminal Court.
When asked if Palestine plans to bring any such charges, Areikat said their current trajectory is to move forward and capitalize on plans to create a new state. Yet he warned that “if Israel continues to pressure us… we will resort to whatever means and venues to defend our people.”
“Iran is a peace loving country and wants to live in peace,” he said.
Yet while the PLO has recognized the right of Israel to exist as a state, both Hamas and Iran have not.
Areikat said while Palestinians are serious about reaching a peace agreement, the Israelis – as evidenced by their occupations – are neither genuine nor sincere about peace, and have met all Palestinian attempts to achieve peace with more hard line occupation policies.
The ambassador failed to mention Israel’s response to Hamas’ recent aggression in Gaza, during which Israel practiced restraint by declining to send in ground forces, and choosing instead to rely on its Iron Dome defense systems.
As it stands, the future of a Palestinian state is uncertain. There are serious questions to be answered about how a new state will handle extremists who continue to be hostile to Israel. Even though the ambassador says there is every intention of setting up a secular and non-extremist government, there is no guarantee they could form a majority in such a government.
Fix contributor Brian Miller is a student at George Mason University School of Law.
IMAGE: Real Tingley/Flickr
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