PA expects UNGA vote on statehood by November

PLO Executive Committee member Ashrawi says she expects vote on November 29- International Day of Solidarity with Palestinians.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
PLO Executive C'tee member Hanan Ashrawi 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS)
PLO Executive C'tee member Hanan Ashrawi 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinians expect the UN General Assembly to vote on their application for statehood on November 29, Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said on Friday.
Noting that the date coincided with the anniversary of the UN Partition Plan for Palestine and the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians, Ashrawi said that the vote would not be postponed until next year’s General Assembly session.
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah one day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the UN headquarters in New York, Ashrawi said that the PA leadership was determined to achieve the non-member status of a Palestinian state in the UN after consulting with regional organizations and member states.
In his speech, Abbas refrained from calling for a vote on his application to upgrade the status of a Palestinian state, apparently after coming under heavy pressure from the US.
Ashrawi acknowledged that the PA leadership had faced immense pressure and “direct threats” to abandon the statehood bid.
However, she predicted that 150 countries would vote in favor of the Palestinian application “despite American and Israeli pressure.” Ashrawi repeated Abbas’s charges that Israel was sabotaging the peace process and the two-state solution by pursuing settlement construction and the demolition of Palestinian houses.
She noted that accepting the application would give the Palestinians access to many of the UN organizations and agencies, where they would be able to confront Israel.