Regardless, Palestinians have a right to statehood
Within a matter of days the new State of Palestine will have been declared by the lawful representatives of the Palestinian people (by the way, already recognised as such by the United Nations General Assembly).
Contrary to a misunderstanding actively promoted by Israel and some Western countries, that decision should in no way depend on the continuation of the so-called Middle East peace process that has been going on for twenty years without any result other than allowing Israel to reinforce its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Neither does it depend on a decision by the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council to admit the State of Palestine to the UN or to grant it observer status at the UN General Assembly.
The decision rests solely and squarely on the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, contained in the Charter of the United Nations.
Nevertheless, before trying to impede the advent of the new State at the UN, Israel and the Western countries referred to above will do well to ask themselves questions such as whether the US negotiated its independence with the UK for 20 years, or whether it is really advisable to compound the abominable atrocities committed against the Jewish people from 1933-1945 with the abominable injustice of pretending to deny Palestine its legal right to statehood.
Hubert Felin
Chiang Mai
