*The resolution’s failure “will not defeat our determination,” said Palestine’s permanent observer at the United Nations.* by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, April 19, 2024 https://truthout.org/articles/us-vetoes-palestines-bid-to-become-a-full-member-of-the-un/
*Biden Claims to Support a Two-State Solution. His Policies Say Otherwise* The administration pays lip service to a two-state solution while blocking every possible avenue toward that goal. by Stephen Zunes, Truthout, April 17, 2024 https://truthout.org/articles/biden-claims-to-support-a-two-state-solution-his-policies-say-otherwise/ Recent initiatives by the Palestinian government to revive their application for UN membership are putting to the test the U.S. claim that it supports a “two-state solution” — a Palestinian state on at least some portion of the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside a secure Israel. In practice, however, the Biden administration and Congress have been working hard to ensure that that does not come about. . . . Though Biden, in his 2024 State of the Union address, reiterated that “the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time,” he has given no indication that he is willing to take any steps to make that possible. As Matthew Duss of the Center for International Policy noted in a recent article in *The New Republic* <https://newrepublic.com/article/180122/chuck-schumer-aipac-big-israel-speech> on the Palestinian quest for statehood, the Democrats’ view is that, “Violent resistance is unacceptable. Nonviolent resistance is also unacceptable. The only acceptable path to liberation is to negotiate with an Israeli government that is fundamentally opposed to granting it and is continually protected by the U.S. Congress from any consequences for that opposition.” Indeed, the Biden administration and Congress have long taken the position that Palestinian statehood is only acceptable on terms voluntarily agreed to by Israel in bilateral negotiations. This comes despite the fact that there have been no such negotiations since 2015 and the Israeli government categorically rules out allowing any kind of Palestinian state. . . . It was the United Nations that established the state of Israel through United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations-Resolution-181> in 1947, a decision which has long been celebrated by Biden and other Democratic leaders. However, these same leaders categorically reject any role for the United Nations in establishing a state of Palestine. Earlier this month, the United States was one of only two countries in the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to vote against a resolution <https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3972438?v=pdf> which “reaffirmed its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.” . . . As prominent journalist and commentator Peter Beinart <https://twitter.com/PeterBeinart/status/1288118991492243462> said on social media: “Most Democratic leaders don’t actually support 2 states. In practice, they support 1 state that denies millions of Palestinians basic rights.” What is particularly disheartening is that the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the ruling Fatah party are simply demanding control of 22 percent of historic Palestine, an area only slightly larger than the state of Delaware. This is less than half of what the United Nations initially called for in resolution 181. The longstanding U.S. position, however, is that while Israel must be able to hold on to the 78 percent of Palestine it has controlled since the 1948-49 war, Palestinians must be willing to compromise on how much of what remains they could govern. *Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s supposed “generous offer” of a Palestinian state in the 2000 Camp David talks would have not only reduced Palestinian control to barely 18 percent and not included most of occupied Arab East Jerusalem and its environs, but the remainder would have been divided into four noncontiguous cantons with Israel controlling the air space, water resources, and the movement of people and goods between them.* Even if Netanyahu and his far right government are replaced, there is no conceivable Israeli coalition government that could come to power in Israel that would be willing to offer anything close to what even Barak was willing to offer. Indeed, in February, 99 out of the 120 members of the Israeli Knesset went on record in opposition <https://web.archive.org/web/20240226110028/https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-votes-resoundingly-against-unilateral-palestinian-state-recognition/> to international recognition of a Palestinian state. . . . Until more Democrats recognize the duplicity of their leadership, the Biden administration and congressional leaders will continue to give lip service to a two-state solution while blocking every avenue to actually make that possible. # # # Stephen Zunes, a professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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