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In a diplomatic push for international recognition, Palestine is setting its sights on the UN Security Council, which could provide crucial support paving the way to its long-sought statehood.
In an interview with The National, Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said his government is not merely seeking any endorsement, but is aiming for a unanimous recommendation from the council, without a veto from any permanent member.
“We can live with an abstention,” he said, acknowledging the pragmatic approach the state of Palestine is willing to take to achieve its objectives.
Mr Mansour said Palestine is seeking admission through the mechanisms of the UN and for the 1947 partition plan called for by the General Assembly to “become a reality”.
“One [Israel] has it,” he said. “The other one will be seeking it and hopefully will have it very soon.”
Mr Mansour expressed confidence in the support his nation has in the Security Council and the backing from the bigger General Assembly.
A total of 139 of the 193 member states have so far recognised Palestine as a full-fledged sovereign state.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned last month during a Security Council meeting that refusal to accept the Palestinians' right to statehood “would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security”.
Britain, one of several western nations that does not recognise Palestine as a sovereign state, recently called for the establishment of a diplomatic campaign by “all the friends of a Palestinian state” to make a two-state solution irreversible.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently wrote in an opinion piece in the Mail on Sunday that Britain and its allies can help by confirming their “commitment” to a sovereign, viable Palestinian state and their vision for its composition.
Latest from the Israel-Gaza war – in pictures
“Crucially, we must state our clear intention to grant it recognition, including at the United Nations,” Lord Cameron said.
He said that the Palestinian leadership must help by forming a new government which “can immediately start to deliver”.
Mr Mansour read Lord Cameron's words “very closely” and said Palestine needs to engage the UK “extensively” on the issue so that “we can have the same understanding that it means the admission of the state of Palestine to membership”.
“Now, if that is possibly the position of the UK, we hope that it can influence the United States in that regard,” he said.
The shift in the drive for statehood began in November 2012, when 138 member states in the General Assembly voted to elevate Palestine's status to that of a non-member observer state, meaning it can take part in General Assembly sessions and maintain offices at the UN headquarters in New York.
It also began officially using the name “state of Palestine” for all purposes.
Today, Mr Mansour said Palestine needs to “receive a resolution from the Security Council recommending to the General Assembly to accept the state of Palestine as a [full] member, and therefore for the General Assembly to vote with two-thirds majority to approve that recommendation, which I believe we do have”.
Procedurally, only the Security Council can grant full recognition of a state and this cannot happen if one of the five permanent members vetoes its request.
For many years, the stance of the US – Israel’s closest ally – has been to oppose the recognition of Palestine as a state at the bilateral level and within UN bodies.
It has said that Palestinian statehood should be realised solely through direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“We engaged everyone, including the United States, about two years ago on this issue … Washington decided that they will not be on board,” Mr Mansour said.
The pursuit of a diplomatic solution to the Gaza conflict has created an opportunity to re-evaluate strategies for advancing discussion on Palestinian statehood.
And it comes at a time when the two-state solution, a long-standing international vision for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, faces significant threats from what Mr Mansour described as “the current Israeli extremist rightist government”.
Palestine's admission to the world body is seen not only as a move towards self-determination but as a crucial “investment in peace” and in defence of the two-state solution itself, he said.
“It is the international community's duty to determine the fate of the two-state solution,” Mr Mansour said.
Mr Mansour, whose father moved to the US from Ramallah in the 1950s as a refugee, firmly rejected any unilateral action by Israel to dictate the terms of Palestine's statehood or its membership in the UN.
He said the right to self-determination is an “exclusive right to the Palestinian people alone” and is not something Palestine is willing to negotiate or seek permission for.
“It is not Israel unilaterally to dictate to us their wishes and to give us the permit to become a member state and to become a state and to exercise our right to self-determination,” Mr Mansour said.
“All these things are not acceptable to us.”
One of the stark differences in position between the US and the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is that the latter did not condemn Hamas for the October 7 assault against Israel.
Mr Mansour said there was a double standard at play.
“Those who want to politicise this tragic situation, they want to condemn one side, and they don't want to condemn the horrific crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” he said.
100 days of Israel Gaza war – in pictures
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Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
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Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
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Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Company%20Profile
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Racecard
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England Test squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.
UK%20record%20temperature
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
SUNDAY'S ABU DHABI T10 MATCHES
Northern Warriors v Team Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangla Tigers v Karnataka Tuskers, 5.45pm
Qalandars v Maratha Arabians, 8pm
SPECS
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65
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Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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