News In Brief

PLO to claim a UN right to occupy Palestinian seat

The Palestine Liberation Organization could soon win a significant diplomatic battle at the United Nations. Invoking UN Resolution 181 of 1947, which partitioned Palestine and created two independent states (Israel and the Arab state of Palestine), the PLO is about to claim the right to occupy the Palestinian seat, or at least let it be left empty. The PLO would thus recognize Israel for the first time, albeit in its 1947 borders.

By changing its label at the UN - from observer of a liberation movement to observer of the Arab state of Palestine - the PLO would be starting the process of legitimizing its sovereignty claim over its share of the partitioned Palestine.