Palestinians accuse U.S. of 'aggression' for refusing statehood recognition
President Abbas holds Palestine's application for U.N. membership in a September 2011 statement to the U.N. General Assembly in New York
The Palestinian Authority has lashed out angrily at the United States after it stymied the PA's attempted end-run around Israel and the peace-seeking process for the Middle East by having the United Nations issue a unilateral declaration.
A report from MorningStar Online said the PA accused the U.S. of "blatant aggression" against peace.
It rejected, in the U.N.'s security council, a resolution demanding that Palestine become a full member of the world body.
A dozen nations approved it, but not the U.S. Further, Britain and Switzerland abstained.
The PA has been an "observer" since 2012, but does not vote.
"Unfair, unethical and unjustified" is how the office of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas slammed America's decision.
He claimed that the action would push "the region ever further to the edge of the abyss."
In fact, terrorists from Hamas, based in Gaza, unleashed atrocities on Israeli civilians last fall, killing some 1,200, including hundreds attending a music festival.
Israel has since begun a military campaign to end that terror threat.
Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour said that the "state of Palestine" is inevitable.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood explained Washington supports a two-state solution in the Middle East, but any change in the current status needs to be part of a negotiated settlement with Israel, not imposed by outsiders on Israel.
Reuters reported the U.S. veto stopped action on the pro-Palestinian move.
Israel's ambassador, Gilad Erdan, explained Palestinians failed to meet the criteria to become a full U.N. member, which he outlined as: a permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter relations with other states.
He charged, "Who is the council voting to 'recognize' and give full membership status to? Hamas in Gaza? The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Nablus? Who?"
The Palestinians are demanding their own state, including the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, which all were territories captured by Israel in 1967 when it fought off a determined attack my multiple Arab neighbors.
The New York Sun reported just days before the vote Israel's envoy said that the PA's request would reward "evil."
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