Later this month, Palestinians plan to present the United Nations with a bid for statehood, which would cancel out current peace negotiations with Israel, cause a new outbreak of violence and bloodshed, and potentially divide the U.S government.

The Obama administration has been attempting to renew peace talks with Israel this week in hopes of persuading Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas against appealing for the bid at the U.N. General Assembly, which will open Sept. 20. The United States, believing that Palestine should wait until further peace negotiations are made, plans to veto the bid in the U.N. Security Council.

The United States, however, is an outlier in the situation and will likely be outnumbered by the rest of the U.N., who aren’t as opposed to Palestine’s statehood. In the event that Palestine does receive statehood, Palestinians will be able to join several U.N. groups and organizations, and possibly take Israel to the International Criminal Court.

The Daily Orange asked the experts: How would a U.S. veto against Palestinian statehood affect America’s relations with the Middle East?

Miriam Elman, political science professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs:

‘I think now the U.S. is between a rock and hard place. If the Obama administration decides to veto, Obama jeopardizes all his good relations with the Middle East and the Muslim world since they’re all adamant about Palestinian rights. It’ll just make the U.S. look like not an honest broker. Now, if the U.S. agrees to the bid, it’s a risk because Obama told Congress that he would reject it, which further alienates Obama from Congress at a time when he needs them in order to resolve economic issues. There’s no good choice.’

Ken Frieden, Judaic studies professor in the College of Arts and Sciences:

‘It would be important for the U.S. to use this as an opportunity for a positive outcome rather than veto the statehood. We’ve lost a lot of credibility among Palestinians, and we could gain some of it back by negotiating and trying to move forward. The U.S. should work with Palestine to develop a better negotiated settlement, which would work out better than Palestine actually declaring statehood.’

Mehrzad Boroujerdi, political science professor in Maxwell:

‘If a majority of the countries vote for statehood and the U.S. doesn’t, it will speak volumes. U.S. will want to veto, which will be embarrassing, and negate the good will of Obama’s speech in Cairo in 2009. The veto will also send a signal to people in the region that we can no longer be regarded as an honest broker.’

meltagou@syr.edu

Published on September 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri