September 2011: Recognition of the Palestinian state. What happens next?

The campaign of the Palestinian Authority to gain international recognition of the state of Palestine is supposed to reach its apogee in September 2011. During the General Assembly of the UN in September the leaders of the Palestinian authority want to get a UN resolution about the establishment of their state. Many countries already declared their support of this initiative. Yesterday the French ambassador to the UN even said that France and the European countries are considering recognition of the state of Palestine.

Some experts say that Israel is expecting her own "black September". Even some of the Israeli politicians call it a "new political tzunami". But let us analyze the situation without slogans or dramatic headlines. What will happen in September, after the adoption of this resolution?

It won't be the first time the UN adopts resolution about the Palestinian state. In November 1947 the UN did not adopt the resolution only about Israel - the resolution dealt with  establishing two nation  states: one Jewish and one Arab. The UN already gave its green light to the establishment of the Arab state in Palestine in1947. It was the decision of the Arab leadership in Palestine, with the support of the Arab states, to reject this resolution. 

It's also worth to remind that in 1988 when Yasser Arafat decided to conduct peace talks with Israel, he asked for the recognition of the state of Palestine, which was declared by a number of states.

In fact the Palestinians are asking for one new recognition of their state, which will be probably given to them once again. But what will change as the result of this new recognition? Is September 2011 will be another repetition of November 1947? 

At first sight it looks different. Today Palestinian Authority demands recognition of its state in the 1967 borders - borders that existed before the 6-day war. In demanding this, the PA wants to create a new legal reality: not just formal recognition of their state but also recognition of its borders.

However, when Abu Mazen demands 1967 borders he is ignoring the existing reality. Today, the Palestinian territories in 1967 borders are not fully controlled by the Palestinian Authority. One third of the Palestinian population living in Gaza is not under control of the PA. It's even worse than that: Abu Mazen cannot even enter Gaza Strip because Hamas who controls Gaza cannot assure his safety there. The resolution in September won't change this reality of de-facto separation between Gaza and the West Bank: Hamas doesn't care about the peace talks, or the 1967 borders, and wants all of Palestine  back to Arabs. And Jews? Jews should better go back to Europe, or to hell.

But it's not only the PA who misleads the world. It's the world who wants to believe that the Palestinians are ready for statehood! The IMF declared that the Palestinians built all the necessary economic and political institutions to declare a viable state. The European countries are also eager to recognize the state of Palestine. 

With this in mind, can anyone in Europe - Great Britain, France, Germany, to name the most active players - explain why they ignore Hamas? Why do they ignore the fact that 1967 borders are already divided between two Palestinian factions - Hamas and Fatah of Abu Maxen? That Palestinians are split - ideologically and politically? Do they understand that recognition of the state of Palestine will mean something completely different? 

So what will it mean? And what will happen in September 2011? The resolution on the state of Palestine will mean that the UN will recognize the state of the West Bank, not of Palestine. Because de-facto Gaza will not be part of this new state. Israel will once again stand against  the Goliath of the international community hoping to explain that one cannot resolve the conflict while ignoring the reality on the ground. 

Abu Mazen already said that he is against violence, but he is afraid of it. Unfortunately his politics of ignoring the problem of Hamas in hope that it will be settled after the official recognition of the state of Palestine, could bring him exactly to the same result he is so afraid of - lost of control and new weave of terror against Israel. And September 2011 could be another repetition of November 1947. Why? Because, as in 1947 the Palestinians are divided, and are not looking for compromise with Israel. They are looking for complete destruction of Israel, in the case of Hamas, or for imposing on Israel another UN resolution, in the case of PA.

Palestinians like to compare their cause to the Israel's. However, the Israelis in 1947 knew to overcome the differences between rival factions, and when necessary to deal with the extremists among them, in order to achieve independent state...Abu Mazen prefers to ignore his extremists, and the Europeans encourage him to do so. A sure recipe for failure.

Is there room for hope? Of course. Because many things could happen before September 2011. 

When “Better later than never “ doesn’t work

Two years after the publication of the Goldstone Report that accused Israel in committing war crimes, the Judge Richard Goldstone who wrote the report regrets its conclusion. In his letter in Washington Post he confesses his own naivety in expecting Hamas, the terrorist organizations, to investigate itself. He also describes his expectations from the UN Human Rights Council to condemn intentional attacks of Hamas against Israel. This expectation is also very naive.

The Goldstone Committee was created by an organization where the major actors are Libya, Syria, Iran and other human-rights loving countries. Iran murdered its citizens in 2009; Syria follows the Iranian big brother these very days. Libya’s Kaddafi regime is bombarded by NATO. So,  Judge Goldstone, my question is this:  How a person of your stance and experience could have received a mandate from such an organization for conducting investigation? You were completely blind, butI believe, at least that was not intentional.

Some people say you've made a courageous step. I don't think so. The damage that your report inflicted on Israel is irreversible. You should be ashamed of the baseless accusations against Israeli army. What Israeli army is doing against Hamas is no different from what US army is doing against Al-Qaida in Iraq, or NATO forces  in Afghanistan. We all fight Islamic terrorism.

Here in France the damage done by your report to Israel's image is also irreversible. Just look at the book of Stephane Hessel who establishes his defamatory discourse against Israel on your "findings". Mr. Hessel uses your accusations in order to go even further. He claims that the use of violence by Hamas against Israel could be "understood". Understood? Did you mean, Mr. Hessel, justified? Your description of Hamas as “beach-loving people” would make laugh even the Hamas terrorists themselves. They never had such a propagandistic success, as with you.

Any person of conscience would apologize for these baseless accusations. However, I am not naive. No, Mr. Hessel, you are not going against the wind. Your scandalous book is too popular and too cheap. Being popular doesn't mean being right. As Gandhi said:  « An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”

Viadeo in France

Before moving to France in the August 2010,  I was already connected already to about 10 social networks, among them LinkedIn. I discovered LinkedIn when working in Los Angeles 5 years ago, and since then enjoyed many useful contacts found through this network.

However, in France LinkedIn is less popular than Viadeo - 5-language social network for professionals. I joined it a month ago and since then was contacted by many experts and even received proposition for joint seminar. Viadeo's structure is similar to that of LinkedIn, even though some features I found less successful. Yet, the most important advantage of Viadeo is that you can find there useful contacts in France.

So, if you are looking for professional networking in France - go to Viadeo.