I’m surprised Obama objected.
I do not see much meaning to this, unless it allows nations to move easily give aid to them.
So which is the rightful government of our newest country? The PLO or Hamas? Did the UN have a preference?
Technically, Susan Rice, our ambassador to the UN, objected. I'm not surprised. If she had voted to recognize "Palestine" it would kill whatever remaining chance she has of becoming Secretary of State. Because of internal political pressure, the USA was going to stay on the "NO" side of this debate regardless of how many countries joined us.
>> I do not see much meaning to this <<
It probably is the first step to giving them a seat in the UN, which the PLO will appoint. They're not going to get a capitol or an independently sovereign government, the Palestinians can't even agree on who's in charge of "Palestine" and haven't had elections since 2006.
>> So which is the rightful government of our newest country? The PLO or Hamas? Did the UN have a preference? <<
They don't even have defined boundaries of this "country" (not to mention the two main areas of "Palestine", West Bank and Gaza Strip, are on opposite ends of Israel and not physically connected), which is why recognizing it was ridiculous. It would be like trying to declare Kurdistan is a country, or Carpatho-Rusyn (a culture and people that overlaps areas of present-day Slovakia, Ukraine, and Hungary...Andy Warhol had such ancestry)
Hamas still has firm control of the PA (74 seats in government), compared to Fatah (45 seats), which is why Condi Rice was just as misguided as Susan Rice when she said we should move toward giving them statehood. The government is run by terrorists who have made it clear they believe Israel should be wiped off the map. Makes as much sense as admitting Puerto Rico to Congress if the government was run by the FALN terrorists dedicating to "liberating" the island by blowing up American politicians.
One reason why I'm not a fan of either Rice.