'Today we are a state,' shouted dancing Palestinians in midst of celebratory fireworks in their streets on Thursday night. 'The birthday certificate to the reality of the state of Palestine' - in the words spoken by President Mahmoud Abbas on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly - has been issued by the world body by an overwhelming majority. The votes in favour of granting statehood to Palestine were 138 against 9, while 46 abstained.
In 1948, the same very UN General Assembly had voted to divide Palestine into two states, one for its real owners the Palestinians while the other to give a living space to the Jews being eased out of Europe prior to end of the World War II. The lopsided vote in favour of granting "non-member observer state" status to Palestine was no doubt a foregone conclusion, given its recognition over the years as an independent country by some 120 member-states. But it's the addition to that vote count that really is a matter of great satisfaction to President Abbas. Among the new supporters are some important European states such as France, Spain, Italy and the Scandinavian countries, which leaves Israel now in relatively smaller company of the United States, Canada and six others including some Pacific island-states.
That important European countries like Britain and Germany preferred to abstain and didn't vote for Israel is the huge victory for the people of Palestine that surely brings them closer to their goal of full-membership of the United Nations. No less importantly the fact remains the European support was made available even when President Abbas rejected the pleadings not to press for access to International Criminal Court - an issue from behind the curtain pressed by Tel Aviv which fears its war crimes and illegitimate settlements can now be tried in the world court. And those few who had predicted that the European support to moderate President Abbas will isolate him in the wake of evolving situation on home front following the Gaza-centered Israeli bombing, too have been caught on the wrong foot. Of course, Hamas was not expected to welcome the vote success which goes to rival power centre, but in its initial reaction the Hamas leadership has pledged 'not to interfere with the UN bid for statehood'. And the hardness besetting the Hamas-Fatah political equation is now bound to soften, given that Arab states that had reached the Gaza Strip to show their solidarity with its residents now worked hard to ensure resounding success for President Mahmoud Abbas in the UN General Assembly - very much in line with Egyptian President Morsi's perspective on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Considerably a tamed Tel Aviv is likely to be more amenable to Washington's persuasions to imbibe the emerging international ground reality that war is no more its option to secure peaceful existence in the Middle East. Accepted, the impending election had forced Prime Minister Netanyahu to go for strikes against the residents of Gaza, but the UN vote should help him reconcile to the fact that his move had further isolated his country. And its insistence that only direct talks would be the way forward too gets neutralised with General Assembly floor now made available to Palestine. Even if Palestine is no yet a full member it would have now the right to access the UN organisations where member-states would be most willing to offer help - in due course eroding the clout of the US Congress that would sit on release of allocations for Palestine to dictate its terms. No more. And its boundaries and territorial expanse now defined by the United States, the government of Palestine would be now free to seek removal of illegal settlements. So even if Palestine is not full member it has acquired all that it needs for effective functioning at international, regional and bilateral levels.