When officials of a great nation render its people as detainees to torture chambers to the wrong side of history

Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas's standing ovation at UNGA

United States’ shameful vote against Palestinians unsuccessful in deciding their triumph  
Editing by Carolyn Bennett

What happens between the Jordan River and the shores of the Mediterranean is central to security and well-being of humankind. [UN General Assembly President]

Resolution to Grant Palestine Non-member Observer State Status in the United Nations (New York), November 29, 2012

Celebration at UN

Thirty-nine nations voted yes.

Forty-one ducked

Albania, Andorra, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Korea, Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, UK, Vanuatu

Nine voted regress

Shame

The United States, Israel, Panama, Palau, Canada, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Czech Republic, Micronesia

Wall of Shame

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaking before the UN General Assembly vote said, “I believe that Palestinians have the right to their own state. I believe that Israel has the right to peace and security [and] we must give new impetus to our collective efforts.”

Reason for hope, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said ─

“Your support will send a promising message to millions of Palestinians... that justice is possible, and that there is a reason to be hopeful. That the peoples of the world do not accept the occupation.”

Geopolitics
Middle East
Red Sea

President of the sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly Vuk Jeremić said, “Both [peoples] come from a land that has been almost continuously tormented by conflict for many centuries, with countless victims on all sides. The strife has not abated during the sixty-seven years of this Organization’s existence ─ despite the fact that it came into being ‘to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’

“Notwithstanding the valiant efforts of some of the most courageous statesmen of the 20th century, a negotiated comprehensive settlement enabling Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace and security has yet to materialize. And so we still witness the enmity, estrangement, and mistrust as parents continue to bury their children.

Gaza

In today’s globalizing, interconnected world, what happens between the river Jordan and the shores of the Mediterranean has become the key to the security and well-being of the entire mankind.

… History will judge this day to have been fraught with significance but whether it will come to be looked upon as a step in the right direction on the road to peace will depend on how we [conduct] ourselves in its wake. …

Middle East

… Allow me to extend an appeal … to my dear friends from Palestine and Israel

·         to work for peace;

·         to negotiate in good faith;

·         to succeed in reaching the historical settlement.

Sources and notes

http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/67/

“UN general assembly recognizes Palestinian state – live updates Live• UN approves ‘nonmember observer state’ plan ─ • Resolution approved 138-9 with U.S. and Canada against,”  (Matthew Weaver and Tom McCarthy, guardian.co.uk) Thursday November 29, 2012,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/nov/29/egypt-crisis-morsi-constitution-live

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is greeted by a standing ovation before he speaks to the United Nations General Assembly before the body votes on a resolution to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority to a nonmember observer state November 29, 2012.(AFP Photo / Stan Honda), (38.5Mb) embed video

“The UN General Assembly has voted to upgrade Palestinians’ diplomatic status to a ‘non-member observer state,’ thus implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. This comes despite strong opposition from the U.S. and Israel.” http://rt.com/news/un-palestinians-non-member-832/

“UN implicitly recognizes Palestinian statehood” November 29-30, 2012

http://rt.com/news/un-palestinians-non-member-832/

Mahmoud Abbas (Wikipedia note)

Mahmoud Abbas (Arabic: مَحْمُود عَبَّاس‎, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born March 26, 1935) was chosen on November 23, 2008, by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council to be the President of the State of Palestine, a position he had held unofficially since May 8, 2005.

President Abbas served as the first Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority from March to October 2003. He resigned this position citing ‘internal incitement’ against his government and lack of support from Israel and the United States.

Before becoming prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas led the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abbas

The Jordan River rises on the slopes of Mount Hermon on the Syrian-Lebanese border and flows southward through northern Israel to the Sea of Galilee and then divides Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on the west from Jordan on the east before emptying into the Dead Sea at an elevation of about 1,312 feet (400 meters) below sea level.

With the lowest elevation in the world, the Jordan River is more than 223 miles (360 km) long but because its course meanders the actual distance between its source and the Dead Sea is less than 124 miles (200 km).

Geopolitics and waterways from No Land an Island No People Apart

Red Sea

The Red Sea separates the coasts of Egypt, The Sudan, and Eritrea (Africa) to the west from those of Saudi Arabia and Yemen (Asia) to the east; and with its connection to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, the Red Sea is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world, carrying maritime traffic between Europe and Asia.

This narrow strip of water—maximum width 190 miles, greatest depth 9,974 feet (3,040 meters), area approximately 174,000 square miles (450,000 square km)—extends southeastward from Suez, Egypt, for about 1,200 miles (1,930 km) to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects with the Gulf of Aden and then with the Arabian Sea. Geologically, the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba (Elat) are considered the northern extension of the same structure. Red Sea name derives from the color changes observed in its waters (Britannica rev.).

_______________________________

Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

_______________________________