Independent investigative journalist Joe Lauria discusses Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s request for full UN membership during his speech to the General Assembly; how most media coverage has failed to distinguish between statehood (some 130 countries already recognize Palestine) and the various degrees of UN membership; charting Palestine’s options and chances of success in the Security Council and General Assembly; how Palestine’s upgrade to “observer state” would grant them access to the International Criminal Court and sovereign control of their territorial waters – two things Israel’s defenders want to avoid; and why European countries may eventually take over the “honest broker” role, played so poorly by the US for decades.
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