Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will make his first-ever visit to Iran next month, when he attends the Non-Aligned Movement Summit to be held in Tehran.
"Historically speaking, this forum and its meetings have been extremely important for the Palestinians during the last 30-40 years," Prof. Bassem Zbeidi of Birzeit University told Xinhua on Monday.
"We have plenty of supporters in this organization and Palestinians have a very good record in attending its meeting," he added.
The Non-Aligned Movement was established in 1961 for countries that didn't want to be part of the global division between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian invited the Palestinian leader on behalf of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Abbas' decision to attend after declining previous invitation by Tehran was met with caution in Israel.
"This is not a bilateral meeting, it is a conference of the non- aligned bloc that will include countries with whom Israel has good ties, such as India and Brazil," an Israeli Foreign Ministry official told The Jerusalem Post.
However, Dr. Jonathan Rynhold of Bar-Ilan University said the decision to accept the invitations "unfortunately shows that Abbas isn't that serious in planning any negotiations with Israel in the near future."
NOT A MAJOR SHIFT
Zbeidi, though, cautioned against reading too much into Abbas' decision, arguing that reaching out to Ahmadinejad wasn't a bid to pressure Israel into resuming negotiations.
Additionally, Iran is one of the main backers of Hamas, Abbas' main rival in Palestinian politics and whose charter and leaders regularly call for Israel's destruction.
"Partly, Abbas is trying to send a message that he isn't running out of options, that he is keen on the peace process - but at the same time that he is willing to construct some bridges with others whom might be perceived as spoilers, such as Iran," Zbeidi said.
Israeli-Palestinian direct peace negotiations have been at a standstill for the last two years after an Israeli freeze on settlement construction on the West Bank came to an end in September 2010. Since then, the sides have been unable to agree on the terms under which the talks could be resumed.
As recently as Sunday, Abbas told Israeli Channel 2 TV that he wants Israel to release 123 Palestinians prisoners before negotiations can resume, a proposal to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed some willingness to comply.
However, despite the positive note, the restart of negotiations still hinges on Abbas' demand that Israel reinstate the freeze before serious talks can resume, something Israel has so far refused to do.
UNITED NATIONS BID
In the absence of progress in the negotiations with Israel, Abbas tried to go via the United Nations to advance his goal of an independent Palestinian state. And in September 2011 he asked the UN to upgrade the status of the representative Palestinian people to the world body and to recognize them as an independent nation.
Zbeidi said that Abbas may be preparing for a new bid and could use the trip as first step.
"There is a hidden message to the United States, knowing that the U.S. has been playing a very frustrating role lately and basically blocking every Palestinian attempt in the UN," Zbeidi said.
The bid ultimately failed, but the support of non-alignment countries played an important role as backers of the attempt and if Abbas plans to try again, then the meeting in Iran would provide an opportunity to assess how much support he'd likely get.
However, there backing wasn't enough to overcome two very different obstacles. First, in order to gain the recognition as an independent nation Abbas' bid needed to pass the UN Security Council.
There, the United Sates holds a veto as a permanent member, which Washington said it would use should there be a vote, as Zbeidi pointed out.
Secondly, for a state to be recognized as a sovereign country it need to have one government in control of all its territory. Even if one disregards Israel's role, Abbas' government only controls the West Bank, while Hamas is in control of Gaza, which leaves the Palestinians with two de-facto governments, each controlling its own part of the territory of which Abbas' wanted to receive recognition for.
NO NEW NEGOTIATIONS
Rynhold said that while going to Iran doesn't necessarily mean that Abbas is planning launch a new unilateral bid at the UN, it does mean he isn't going to be talking to Israel any time soon.
"That's not what you do if you are planning the resume any kind of talks and so it's clear that, despite the change of government in Israel, Abbas' position hasn't changed," Rynhold said.
"It's a sign that Abbas isn't committed to negotiations," he added.
In May, the centrist Kadima party joined the Israeli government, with its leader Shaul Mofaz immediately calling for a resumption of negotiations.
A meeting was planned for last week between Mofaz and Abbas, but the Palestinian leader bowed out at the last moment.
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