U.S. bars Palestinian statehood moves in U.N. agencies
7:49am EST By Tom Perry
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AI24O20101119

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Away from the headlines, Palestinians have
been trying to advance their statehood agenda in small but symbolic ways in
United Nations agencies that fall off the radar for most people.

But even on the outer reaches of the sprawling U.N. system, their efforts
have been blocked by a United States resolved not to display the slightest
tilt toward Palestinians as it tries to act as honest broker in their
halting peace talks with Israel.

Many Israelis suspect President Barack Obama is bent on establishing a
Palestinian state at any cost. But in Ramallah, the seat of the
Palestinians' limited self-rule in the West Bank, they think he's not as
serious about it as he sounds.

"We could have gone to voting and got what we wanted," said Sulaiman
Zuhairi, a member of the Palestinian delegation last month at a meeting in
Mexico of the International Telecommunications Union.

He tabled a motion that would have secured them the rights of a member
state, and after months of diplomatic preparation, it was endorsed by around
50 countries and was on track to pass with the backing of an additional 40
states.

"We asked for the rights and privileges of a state but without being a
member state. Let them call us whatever they want, but I wanted all the
rights of a member state," he said.

There were U.S. objections, however, and the Palestinians backed down,
fearing the consequences of rocking the boat, which Zuhairi did not detail.

There was no comment from the U.S. State Department on his account. But the
U.S. objections were consistent with a long-standing policy that treats the
stateless Palestinians as no more than an observer member of the United
Nations.

SLOGANS

The Palestinians had dared to hope for more from an administration publicly
committed to their statehood, and their president, Mahmoud Abbas, is blunt
about his disappointment.

In a November 11 speech, he was unusually candid in expressing his
frustration with the U.S. approach, focusing on Washington's opposition to
the idea of the Palestinians seeking U.N. Security Council support for the
establishment of their state.

He reminded Obama that Palestinian statehood "is a promise and a debt around
your neck and it must be realized," but seemed to dilute expectations when
he said U.S. support for Palestinian statehood was "still at the stage of
slogans."

Obama's peace envoy, George Mitchell, has made it plain on every visit to
the region that Washington is relying on Israel and the Palestinians to
refrain from any unilateral steps that could harm negotiations on the core
issues.

That includes Palestinian efforts to force the diplomatic agenda.
Palestinian officials say even small steps in the obscure U.N. agencies have
been quashed as a potentially harmful to the carefully balanced twin-track
policy.

When the Palestinians in September made their first bid for full access to
the UNESCO committee where states may seek the return of antiquities, their
representative Hamdan Taha hoped to use the body to pursue the recovery of
tens of thousands of artifacts removed during the Israeli occupation.

Their proposal would have allowed the Palestinians and the Vatican, which
both have observer status, to table their concerns in the same way as member
states, said Taha.

But the U.S. representative alone opposed the idea, he said.

"In the U.S. intervention, it was noted that the change Palestine had
demanded introduced a new element. It wasn't a complete rejection, but an
attempt to delay the discussion."

The Palestinian delegation was told the United States had opposed the
amendment out of fear it could undermine Washington's attempts to revive the
peace talks, Taha said.

"They did not have a green light."