Letter to the Editor: Obama should veto bid for Palestinian statehood

This week the United Nations is set to consider a bid offered by the Arab League, on behalf of the divided Palestinian Authority, a resolution that seeks to unilaterally declare an independent state of Palestine.  While we together are fully committed to a future that involves two states for two peoples, Israel and Palestine living side by side in a secure and lasting peace, an attempt to unilaterally declare statehood outside the confines of direct negotiations between the two nations holds deeply troubling prospects for the immediate future.

However, this move has brought the issue of Middle East peace and the lack of effective direct negotiations to the forefront.  President Obama stated last week, "I stood at this podium and I called for an independent Palestine. I believed then, and I believe now, that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that a genuine peace can only be realized between the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves."  Unilateral efforts that undermine the peace process should be rejected by any nation that supports a mutually accepted peace agreement that will truly end this conflict.

On July 7, 2011 the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution 268, sponsored by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, by a resounding, bipartisan vote of 407-6.  Perhaps most important in this resolution, which stressed the need for an immediate return to direct negotiations in order to achieve a lasting, secure, two-state solution to the conflict, was language devoted to the independent statehood effort in particular:  "efforts to form a unity government without accepting the Quartet conditions, to bypass negotiations and unilaterally declare a Palestinian state, or to appeal to the United Nations or other international forums, or directly to foreign governments for recognition of a Palestinian state, violate the underlying principles of the Oslo Accords, the Road Map, and other relevant Middle East peace process agreements, all of which require resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct negotiations only."

Furthermore, despite the agreement of national unity, the proposed Palestinian state doesn't have one government but two: Hamas ruling Gaza and the Palestinian Authority governing the West Bank.  As Guy Goodwin-Gill, professor of international law at Oxford College stated, the Palestinian government currently has "limited legislative and executive competence, limited territorial jurisdiction, and limited personal jurisdiction over Palestinians not present in the areas for which it has been accorded responsibility."  Only the Palestinians themselves can create the institutions required for real statehood, not an international body.  We together look forward to the day this comes to fruition.

Even if internal divisions between the two ruling factions were to dissipate, the two groups still hold radically different positions when it comes to peace with Israel.  Despite the breakdown of direct negotiations, the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has demonstrated that it too is interested in a lasting, secure peace with Israel.  In fact, it was recently reported that President Abbas had indeed met on at least one occasion in August with Israeli President Shimon Peres to discuss Palestinian-Israeli ties. On the other hand, Hamas, an internationally defined terrorist organization, continues to deny Israel's fundamental right to exist—continuing to forcefully reject the possibility of peace with Israel and instead advocate for armed resistance.

We do now and will continue to express our strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will result in two states: a democratic, Jewish State of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian State, living side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition.  As a result, we urge President Obama to follow through on his promise to use America's Security Council veto, and we call on every nation that is committed to a legitimate end to this conflict to oppose this attempt to undermine the peace process.  Most importantly, however, we call upon both sides, Israelis and Palestinians, to sit down together and forge a true and lasting peace.

Weinberg junior Alex Riegler, president of College Republicans

Weinberg junior Joshua Noah, president of College Democrats