A wave of controversy recently spread throughout Israel and Palestine when Mohamed Abbas, President of Palestine, announced his decision for Palestine to be granted statehood from the United Nations.
This unexpected statement officially marked the end of the months filled with attempted negotiations between Palestine and the United States and the beginning of a new, heated debate revolving around whether or not the United Nations will reject or support this proposal.
“This specific conflict affects America because empirically, America has taken Israel’s side in disputes of this sort,” junior David Silverman said, a member of the club Model United Nations, said. “I believe that they’ll do the same for this and the result will be an increase of tension between America and the Middle East.”
This is not a new issue. The altercations between the Palestinians and Israelis have traveled a long way through the pages of history textbooks and the border is shifting frequently. Abbas aspires to regain the border that was present in 1967, indicating that the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza would be a part of Palestine.
Obama, however, refuses to comply with this proposition and plans to veto at the council. Last May, he suggested a plan that would create a Palestinian state, but with the boundaries that were intact before 1967. Palestinian leaders were not convinced.
“The way I see it, if Palestine doesn’t accept the offers that Israel and Obama give to them, then it shows a lack of dedication to solving the issue on their part,” junior Josh Barkow said.
Although the majority of the Palestinians living in the United States yearn to see their homeland become an official state, many disagree, choosing to look at the situation from an economic, rather than a cultural perspective.
“When many Palestinians lost their land and homes, Jordan and Syria took them in and created refugee camps,” Sherin Udwa, a promoter of Palestinian peace, said. “If Palestine was an official country, then all those people would have to go back to find no place to work and nowhere to live.”
According to Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, the act of Palestine petitioning for statehood is a violation of the Oslo Records. This agreement was signed in 1993 between the two areas, declaring that Palestine would resolve all issues from then on through negotiations.
“Obviously, this goes against the Oslo records,” junior Rachel Altfield said. “But regardless, Israel has more of a historical right to the region.”
Abbas has been traveling throughout the countries of Europe, meeting with other members of the United Nations in an attempt to gain their support. Either way, whether Palestine will officially be recognized as an independent state remains up in the air because while the United States clings to its right to veto, Palestinian officials are devising ways to manipulate the outcome.