Every year on November 29 the United Nations General Assembly holds a discussion on the situation in the Middle East.
Usually, the "conclusions" from the event are formulized into a series of condemnations against Israel, but this year Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi managed to confuse everyone and steal the show yet again.
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During the discussion, which is primarily aimed at expressing solidarity with the Palestinians, Gaddafi presented his proposal for the establishment of a bi-national state called "Isratine" – a combination of Israel and Palestine.
According to Gaddafi's proposal, the new state will absorb millions of Palestinian refugees and will be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction.
The initiative, which is completely at odds with the international community's position on an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, was received at first as a joke but quickly prompted confusion among UN members.
The United States and European nations immediately announced that they opposed the initiative and demanded to remove it from the agenda – but Gaddafi refused.
The nonaligned bloc, and especially the Arab group within it, did not immediately agree on a voting position, if in fact the proposal is ever brought before the assembly for a vote.
The proposal also managed to confuse African and Arab member states, which did not know whether to object, abstain, or just leave the venue.
Gaddafi, on his part, might have tried to show solidarity, but instead he managed to embarrass everyone in attendance.
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