Daniel Shapiro, US ambassador to Israel, calls on Palestinians to return to direct negotiations without preconditions. The United States will continue to act against Palestinian attempts to gain recognition through the United Nations, and if necessary will use its veto to that end, US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said Continue Reading »

PA president vows to seek solution via international law if Israel is not forthcoming In a letter to be delivered to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in several days, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is demanding that Israel accept the establishment of a Palestinian state “on the 1967 borders” with possible Continue Reading »

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird personally took to the phones last year to try to swing countries to oppose Palestinian efforts to be recognized as a state by the United Nations, according to newly released documents that for the first time reveal in detail how intensely Canada worked behind the Continue Reading »

President Mahmoud Abbas symbolically hoisted the Palestinian flag at the headquarters of the U.N. cultural agency on Tuesday calling it the first step to international recognition for Palestine. Some 50 diplomatic guests watched as Abbas lifted the flag while the Palestinian national anthem was played at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, Continue Reading »

Erekat says Palestinian initiative for UN membership will be brought to vote “in the near future.” The Palestinian Authority “will not back down” from their efforts to become a member of the United Nations, even though the PA has acknowledged that they would not succeed were the Security Council to Continue Reading »

UN’s Admissions Committee report inconclusive on whether or not PA should become full member state. US officials push to hinder bid, claiming rocket fire proves Palestinians are not a ‘pacifist nation’ The United Nations’ Admissions Committee was unable to agree on a unanimous recommendation in regards to the Palestinian bid Continue Reading »

“In common with France, our European partners, UK will abstain on any vote on full Palestinian membership of the UN,” Hague tells British parliament, says UK will recognize Palestine when it best serves peace. Britain would abstain in any United Nations Security Council vote on full Palestinian membership of the Continue Reading »

Millions of people could be affected if UN agencies see their funding cut as a result of the Palestinian bids, he says The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has said Palestinian efforts to join other United Nations agencies beyond its cultural arm are “not beneficial for Palestine and not beneficial Continue Reading »

UN’s cultural agency grants Palestinian membership bid despite Ramallah’s failure to meet minimum educational requirement Exception to the rule? UNESCO decided to grant the Palestinian Authority full membership despite the fact that it does not meet the basic educational requirements outlined in the organization’s codex, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. The Continue Reading »

By Robert Hiltz, Postmedia News October 31, 2011 OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the federal government is looking into what role Canada will play in UNESCO after the UN’s cultural arm voted Monday to accept Palestine as a full member. Baird told reporters the government hasn’t yet Continue Reading »