BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Egypt has proposed a joint Arab initiative to bring Palestinian demands for statehood to the United Nations, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has told Ma'an.
He told Ma'an Radio that one aim of this plan, which he said is close to being finalized, would be to force Israel to stop expanding West Bank settlements before resuming negotiations.
Erekat said the idea of approaching the UN stemmed from the US government's failure to stop Israel from expanding settlements.
"When we talk about alternatives, this doesn’t mean failing [in the] talks; we want them to succeed," Erekat said. "The issue is not easy and negotiation is a tool that is used to solve problems, not a goal in itself. If Israel made the talks fail, then we will go to the other options."
Under US pressure, the PLO resumed direct negotiations with Israel in September, only to suspend the talks a month later over Israel's refusal to stop expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
He said a joint Aarab approach to the UN would be predicated on the original aims of the peace process, including ending the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, based on past UN resolutions.
Erekat added that Netanyahu is wrong to try to alter these basic principles through proposed innovations such as a Palestinian state with provisional borders, a temporary settlement freeze, or other ideas for new transitional stages in the peace process.
He added that another option would be for the PLO to ask the Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders.
The Security Council would then be forced to accept or reject this request, he said. If it was rejected, the negotiator said, the Palestinians would ask the Security Council to activate Resolution 377, passed in 1950.
This measure, known as the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, states that, in cases where the Security Council fails to act in order to maintain international peace and security, due to deadlock among its five permanent members, the matter should be addressed by the General Assembly in an "emergency special session."
Resolution 377 was originally introduced by the US as a means of circumventing Soviet vetoes during the Korean War. The General Assembly has convened emergency special sessions 10 times in its history.
Erekat also said that Israel is trying to force the Palestinian Authority (PA) to collapse by undermining its legal and political mandate, making the PA "just a name."
"If Netanyahu chooses to keep the situation as it is, then what is the use of that?" Erekat said.
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