On November 29, 2012 the United Nations held its annual Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This was the 65th anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution which partitioned Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state - a resolution accepted by its Jewish inhabitants and rejected across the Arab world.
This November, the Palestinians decided to present a resolution to the UN General Assembly following the morning's Solidarity Day event that would upgrade their UN status to that of a non-member observer state.
Exceptionally, the morning was attended by Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian Authority, in addition to UN leaders, other diplomatic representatives and a representative of "civil society."
For the occasion, the UN also screened the film "Walled Horizons." An "art exhibit," called "Palestine: Memories, Dreams, Perseverance" and mounted under the auspices of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, was opened in the public entrance of UN Headquarters.
The Setting
The meeting room was - again - adorned with just two flags, the UN flag and a Palestinian flag. The flag of the UN member state of Israel was nowhere to be seen.
![]() At the podium, from left: Palitha T. B. Kohona (Sri Lanka), Chair of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories; Hardeep Singh Puri (India), President of the Security Council; Vuk Jeremic (Serbia), President of the General Assembly; Abdou Salam Diallo (Senegal), Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority; Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, North Lawn Building, UN Headquarters, New York |
The Speeches
Many of the speakers were on their best behaviour, cognizant of the vote in the General Assembly following the meeting and the fact that the resolution was being billed as a pro-peace and co-existence initiative.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority made the adoption of one political strategy clear - abandoning negotiations. In the words of Riyadh Mansour, Palestinian UN Ambassador: "This historic event where we will legislate the two-state solution..."
In the presence of this unambiguously unilateral move, the UN Secretary-General said merely: "the Palestinians have decided to seek Non Member Observer State status in the General Assembly. This is a matter for Member States to decide. It is important for all concerned to approach this responsibly and constructively." In marked contrast, Ban Ki-Moon had no difficulty lecturing Israel: "Continued settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is contrary to international law and the Roadmap, and must cease. Unilateral actions on the ground will not be accepted by the international community."
The other forms of double-standards and Israel-bashing on the UN's 2012 Palestinian Solidarity Day:
Kadra Ahmed Hassan (Djibouti) speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) alleged Israel was guilty of "apartheid" and "crime against humanity." He also claimed: "The Palestinians have been intensely negotiating with Israel in good faith over the last two decades."
Ahmed Fathalla, UN Observer for the League of Arab States, reading out a message from Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the Arab League: "...the racism of Israel...Israel also persists in...Judaizing East Jerusalem and its surroundings..Israel continues...to adopt dangerous racial practices that call to mind the apartheid policies of South Africa."
And then there was Roger Waters, musician, founding member of Pink Floyd, "speaking on behalf of civil society:"
(From the written text on the UN website, November 29, 2012):
Waters didn't let the facts get in the way. Here's what Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has actually said over and over again: "We will never, never, ever recognize Israel." Al-Aqsa TV, January 5-10, 2012, MEMRI.
The Film Screened
At the conclusion of the speeches, the UN screened the film "Walled Horizons" narrated by Rogers Waters, the invited "civil society" representative.
The film can be watched here: Part 1, Part 2
In this performance, Roger Waters presents the narrative of Palestinian victims, evil Israeli perpetrators and the answers of an old hippy to real life.
On the one hand, Palestinian mothers and fathers are portrayed as innocent, peaceful and suffering: "This is a peaceful demonstration. It is a peaceful demonstration. It is my land. It's my land. I want to go on my land." Their misfortune is Israel's fault; the ruthless Israeli is guilty of deprivation after deprivation: "We have no money. We don't even have enough to buy a sack of flour to feed our children. They won't let the water truck enter. Where are we supposed to drink from?"
On the other hand, Waters never speaks to Israeli victims or their families about the pain that follows suicide-bombing or terrorism. The only Israelis here are politicians and armed forces personnel – depicted as cruel and callous. He says Israelis claim the "wall" limits suicide bombing and never asks, or cares, whether it's true.
The only thing really bothering tourist Roger Waters is a security fence: "It fills me with horror." The self-proclaimed authority on maintaining peace and security lectures: "These Walls that separate peoples...history tells us never survive...We need...Israelis to tear down the Walls" – oblivious to the antisemitism and rejection of a Jewish state that is what actually separates these peoples.
The "art exhibit:" "Palestine: Memories, Dreams, Perseverance"
In the evening, the UN opened an exhibit in the public entrance hall of its New York headquarters that included pieces artfully depicting all of Israel as Palestine.
![]() Palestinian UN representative Riyadh Mansour opens Palestinian-UN exhibit, New York, Nov. 29, 2012 |
The exhibit went hand-in-hand with the logo featured at the top of the cover page of the speech that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' delivered to the General Assembly on November 29, 2012. That emblem continues to promote a one state solution, namely, Palestine without Israel.
The General Assembly vote granted "Palestine" the status of "non-member observer state" under the pretence that the move brought the world closer to a two-state solution. But the "art exhibit" opened by Palestinian UN representative Riyadh Mansour had a plain political message; the works bore such titles as "homeless," "delirious in exile," and "to Jerusalem we travel."
The emblems of a long list of Palestinian terrorist organizations include the familiar shape in which Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are all combined into the one and only Palestine.
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And here is the front page of the speech of Mahmoud Abbas' - the "President of the State of Palestine":
Here is a close-up of the logo on the cover page of Abbas' speech:
It's a perfect fit with the message embedded in the UN public exhibit. Here is "A Standing Prayer" by Manal Deeb.
The exhibit also includes Deeb's "Memories of Trees" (a series with similar images):
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Whether "art" or "emblem" or the words of Abbas himself - who told the General Assembly that the creation of Israel, the so-called "Al-Nakba of 1948," "was "one of the most dreadful campaigns of ethnic cleansing and dispossession in modern history" - the Palestinian-UN agenda is hidden in plain sight.
The UN General Assembly Debate: November 29-30, 2012
When the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was finished with its meeting, Solidarity Day moved to the General Assembly and the vote on the Palestinian unilateral move to upgrade their UN status.
The General Assembly resolution upgrading the status of "Palestine" to a "non-member observer state" was adopted by a vote: in favor 138, opposed 9, abstentions, 41.
The resolution was introduced by Sudan - a country whose leader is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
Speeches by states explaining their votes and positions were made on November 29 and 30, 2012.
Here's what was driving the move's 138 supporters:
Sudan
Welcome to all of you, President Abbas, our brother, the militant... I have the honor and the pleasure of introducing the draft resolution entitled "The Status of Palestine in the United Nations" ...This is a victory of the values of truth.
Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas
Turkey
Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement)
Iran (speaking in its national capacity)
Djibouti (on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC))
Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
Venezuela
Malaysia
Syria
Namibia
Democratic People's Republic of Korea:
Bolivia
Yemen
Iraq
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Palestinian observer
These are not the words of countries interested in peace, or negotiation. Their purpose - to use the Palestinian representatives own word - is "legislating," that is, imposing the will of the UN majority on Israel. The majority of UN countries are not themselves fully free. Arabs rejected a Palestinian state in 1947. Almost all Arab and Muslim states have rejected a Jewish state ever since. Nothing has changed - except control of the United Nations - now a bully pulpit for the demonization and destruction of the Jewish state.
Additional UN General Assembly Resolutions - November 30, 2012
The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People transmitted four draft resolutions to the General Assembly (under the agenda item "The Question of Palestine.") The drafts were all adopted by the General Assembly on November 30, 2012.