Now it is official:
The Palestinian Authority has withdrawn its support from a UN resolution endorsing a UN report into the Gaza conflict, reports say.
The reports, quoting diplomats, say the Palestinian decision was made under strong pressure from the United States.
[...]
Source: BBC
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) has supported a decision to defer a vote on the UN-sanctioned report on the Gaza war until next March, Al Jazeera has learned.
Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Geneva where the UN Human Rights Council is to meet on Friday, said that the Palestinians have not withdrawn support for the report but prefer deferring a final resolution to next year as they wait for a consensus.
Imad Zuhairi, the Palestinian deputy permanent observer at the Human Rights Council, has told Al Jazeera that because of the "historic importance" of the resolution it was important to get fullest possible consensus to pass a resolution to have the 47-member forum adopt the report.
Adopting the report would mean that its is referred to the UN Security Council for further action.
Zamir Akhram, the Pakistan representative to the council, said that it had been decided by the resolution's sponsors – Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tunisia – to withhold the vote and re-introduce the resolution at the the next sitting of the forum in March 2010.
He said the resolution would not be tabled because of a lack of consensus.
The Palestinian delegation has also told Al Jazeera that there is a realisation that current attempts to renew negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians would be severely impacted by an insistence that the vote be held at this stage.
The Palestinian Authority had endorsed the Goldstone report when it was released last month, and on Tuesday the Palestinian representative speaking as an observer at the council had said the report "was a professional, unbiased report and related to facts that could not be denied".
In the debate of the draft earlier this week, the wording of the resolution was contested principally by the US, the EU and France, and Israeli media reported that the decision to defer the endorsement follows pressure from Washington.
On Thursday, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said any action to endorse the report would strike a fatal blow to the stalled so-called peace process between Israelis and the Palestinians.
Source: Aljazeera














{ 3 } Comments
Bad news, but not incredibly surprising. The Palestinian Authority has an unfortunate history of putting faith in the U.S. and Israel to uphold their sides in bargains instead of taking their case to the wider court of international opinion. This report, like so many others, will fade away, and we really need to start asking if another report about what we already know is really waht we need anyway?
This is just unreal.
Khalid Amayreh: Goldstone report, the PA and Abbas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b8jwTeBBaw
Khalid Amayreh: One state or endless conflict
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7rqJQm8PDk
Khalid Amayreh introduces himself and the West Bank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvd563ZfcYI
Khalid Amayreh:Israel could do the unthinkable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ES-WejQd8
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