Gabriel Helou

“THE United States should support the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinian people deserve a state now. As the current debate unfolds, I am reminded of what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1965: “The time is always right to do what’s right.” After almost two decades of unsuccessful negotiations among Israel, the Palestinians and partner states, it is understandable that the Palestinian Authority has elected to go to the United Nations — the international body empowered to mediate conflict and recognize statehood. Despite the initial promise of the Oslo peace process in the 1990s — particularly before the horrific assassination of the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin — direct negotiations have deteriorated to a dismally low point. Given this impasse and Israel’s settlement expansion, the Palestinian Authority is following the example of dozens of current United Nations members, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Eritrea, as well a...

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe - ALDE “It is widely expected that the Palestinian Authority may submit an application to the United Nations this week for recognition of official statehood.    Liberals and Democrats urge the EU Member States to adopt a unified position and commend Baroness Ashton for the efforts undertaken in this respect. The process should lead to a negotiated agreement on a substantially upgraded status of Palestine at the United Nations that also addresses Israel's security concerns before the end of the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Annemie Neyts, MEP (Open VLD, Belgium) Vice Chair of the Middle East Working Group and coordinator on the foreign affairs committee said "This is potentially a defining moment for the Middle East peace process. The Palestinians' bid for enhanced international standing must involve a negotiated solution with Israel and crucially for a future Palestinian State, this must then lead to ...

“A last-ditch American effort to head off a Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations faltered. President Obama tried to qualify his own call, just a year ago, for a Palestinian state. And President Nicolas Sarkozy of France stepped forcefully into the void, with a proposal that pointedly repudiated Mr. Obama’s approach. The extraordinary tableau Wednesday at the United Nations underscored a stark new reality: the United States is facing the prospect of having to share, or even cede, its decades-long role as the architect of Middle East peacemaking. Even before Mr. Obama walked up to the General Assembly podium to make his difficult address, where he declared that “Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the U.N.,” American officials acknowledged that their various last-minute attempts to jump-start Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with help from European allies and Russia had collapsed.”

“A senior Palestinian official voiced disappointment at U.S. President Barack Obama 's speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, saying he had hoped for an expression of support for Palestinian freedom. Obama urged Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch direct peace talks as he made a last-ditch attempt to avert a UN crisis over Palestinian statehood and pull his Middle East policy back from the brink of diplomatic disaster. He also touched on the "Arab Spring" uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East, remarking how "change had come to Egypt and to the Arab World." Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), told Reuters there was "a gap between praising the struggle of Arab peoples for the sake of freedom and between an abstract call for negotiations between us and the Israelis." "We expected to hear that the freedom of the Palestinian people was key for the Arab Spring," he said. ...

The Prince of Qatar , Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, expressed support for the Palestinian UN membership bid, and condemned the Israeli occupation and the ongoing construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. ““After the failure of peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and the ongoing Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories and the Golan Heights, as well as the tightening Israeli blockade and the bombing of civilians in the Gaza, the Palestinians have the right to be free and create their independent state.” He said in a speech to the UN General Assembly Wednesday evening. His statements came during the opening ceremony of the General Assembly's 66th Session. "We are pro dialogue between all cultures and peoples, we are pro reconciliation based on justice and truth", the Sheikh said, "This justice must be based on all international laws and treaties, treaties set by the generations of yesterday for a...

“U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected Palestinian plans to seek U.N. blessing for statehood and urged a return to peace talks with Israel as he tried to head off a looming diplomatic disaster. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Obama − whose earlier peace efforts accomplished little − insisted Middle East peace “will not come through statements and resolutions” at the world body and put the onus on the two sides to break a yearlong impasse. “There is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace is hard work,” Obama told an annual gathering of world leaders.”

New York, 21 September 2011 - Secretary-General's Report to the General Assembly “We The Peoples”   “WE THE PEOPLES” " Seven billion now look to us - the world's leaders. They need solutions. They demand leadership. They want us to act. To act with compassion, courage and conviction. To act in concert - nations united at the United Nations. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: Let us carry on this journey together.”