Weal & Woe of Palestine's Bid for Statehood and UN Membership

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to submit the letter of application to the United Nations for Palestine's statehood and UN membership today. Abbas' decision to bid for Palestine's statehood has won a big support from more than 80 percent Palestinians who believe the UN bid will bring benefits for their future lives.

Mazin Qumsiyeh is a distinguished¹ professor from the Bethlehem University.

"I think the only benefit is to either bring the Palestinians up (in the peace negotiations²) or bring the Israelis down so that we are close. If you are a member even a non-member state of the United Nations, you could bring suits to the International Criminal Court of Justice. And I think it would be appropriate to use that mechanism³ to apply pressure on Israel. The other side of benefit is it makes things move a little bit."

However, Israel opposes Palestine's UN action. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that the Palestinian effort to secure U.N. recognition won't succeed. Netanyahu will take the podium at the General Assembly to argue that only direct negotiations between the two sides can lead to a Palestinian state.
The United States have said time and again that it will use its veto power in the Security Council to block Palestine's bid.

Professor Gabriela Shalev, Israel's former ambassador to the UN, says Palestine's bid will not bring a ray of hope for the entangled⁴ Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

"There are huge problems, Jerusalem, the territories, the borders, the refugees, water, electricity and Gaza on one hand and the West Bank on the other hand. All these problems will not be solved through any kind of resolution of the UN."

For more on this issue, we are now joined live with our correspondent Zhang Xiaoyu who is now in Jerusalem.